All about Lily
by Nomomom
Summary: My name is Charlotte Evans. Never heard of me? Im not surprised, im practically nonexistant. You probably know my twin though, Lily Evans. Yes, the 6th year with bright red hair and amazing green eyes. Why am i sitting with the Marauders you ask? Because i made a stupid deal with James Potter. Yes, the gorgeous Quidditch captain. Im so lucky? You are dearly mistaken. (OC/JP)
1. Chapter 1

Chapter rating: K+

POVs: Charlotte Evans

Word Count: 4,536 words

Date revised: 13/09/2017

Chapter One

* * *

(~Charlotte Evans~)

"Sorry, What's your name again?" She asked with a barely contained sigh. Her head was pounding and the noise level of the great hall wasn't exactly beneficial to her hangover. Whereas most of the students were hung-over from last night's Quidditch win, Charlotte was feeling the effects of her party for one.

Her long blonde hair was knotted and tied loosely to the nape of her neck in an attempt to hide the birds' nests no doubt hidden within her locks. She had dark rings around her eyes which could tell endless stories of what excitement she could have been up to the night before, though only really sharing that she was exhausted beyond belief. Even though she had a long warm shower that morning, she still stunk of fire whiskey and for some reason, no matter how many times she cast _tergeo_ on her robes; they refused to return to its usual cleanliness. If anything, she found her uniform to be dirtier.

All in all, she wasn't in a very good mood. She had attempted to arrive at the great hall an hour before breakfast _officially_ started in the hopes of avoiding her classmates and students in general, yet not 5 minutes after being seated in the spectacularly quiet room, students began entering.

And here in front of her sat a boy that she had never, not once, spoken too, but managed to know far too much about. Of course she knew his name, she would have to be obliviated of the last 6 years at Hogwarts to not know his name, but she knew from past experiences that a grand total of two people in her year knew her name, and it was proven that things could turn rather awkward when Charlotte knew a lot about a person who didn't know she even existed.

"James, James Potter," He said with a dazzling smile and cheery voice. How he wasn't at all affected by last night antics, Charlotte would never know. He was captain of the bloody team, so it was highly likely that he had been intoxicated more than most, if other parties held any example.

Yet he sat before her, dark thick hair dishevelled, _though that was apparently his usual style_ , blue eyes just as bright as any other day behind his thin wired glasses. His uniform was impeccably clean and he smelled of mint and, strangely enough, a musky wooden smell. Not a single aspect of his appearance or mannerisms suggested he had taken part in late night celebrations, so she concluded that he was either part Veela, and was doing some sort of weird mind trick on her which made him seem presentable when, all things considered, he really shouldn't be, or he had taken some sort of potion which took away the effects of a hangover. The second seemed to be more likely.

She didn't ignore the possibility of him being part Veela however, as she never usually found herself studying a boy's appearance as much as she seemed to with this particular boy. He was good looking enough that _she_ felt awkward in his presence. The idea that someone who always seemed so out of sorts, managed to look unintentionally good, bordered on sinful.

"You're a bloody idiot James Potter," Charlotte said with fake cheeriness and a dark smile, knowing it supported, quite clearly, that she held no wish to take part in anything he had suggested. To be truthful, she'd mildly ignored most of what he'd said, more curious that he had come to her at all.

Potter's cocky smirk dropped instantly at her words and she found herself inwardly sighing in relief at the slightly less attractive facial expression. Still attractive, but not enough that she was questioning whether someone had slipped something into her porridge.

As if to solidify her rejection, she flung her spoon towards the end of the Gryffindor table where some firsties were talking animatedly about, who knows what, and who really cares. With her spoon came some of the porridge from her bowl, effectively splattering the table at least a metre in front of the both of them and luckily (for them) missing either of their uniforms.

"Now please move away, and leave me alone," she said, dropping the fake attitude and ending with a glare. Charlotte knew she was being a tad bitchy, but honestly, what did he expect. If there is one thing that others should learn about Charlotte, it's that you do NOT discuss her sister with her. Potter broke her one significant rule when he plopped his ass onto the bench across from her, changing her mood from foul to downright vicious.

Charlotte ignored his company, going back to her breakfast meal, which looked more like the vomit that stained several corners of the Gryffindor common room early that morning, then what breakfast _should_ be. It was however somewhat healthy, and always helped her hangovers. Which is why she ignored its gag inducing appearance and focused on the taste, which truthfully, was no better.

"Look Catherine…" Potter started in a low voice.

Charlotte groaned loudly, obviously loud enough that Potter stopped whatever he was saying mid sentence to raise a brow. She was used to this, yet it still drove her up the wall every time it happened.

"It's Charlotte you prat," she growled pushing away the bowl of porridge, somehow losing her appetite for vomity bland food. Charlotte could write a list of the number of people who forgot her name, continuously introduced themselves, asked if she was new or mixed up her name. That list would likely be longer than the potions essay she had yet to finish and that was one bloody long essay. "I'm not helping you, so you might as well bugger off," She said, rubbing the sides of her head in soothing circles, hoping the action took away the throbbing pain which still hadn't faded from the moment she woke up that morning.

"Why not?" Potter moaned, his confused face turning down into a sad frown. The alcohol was obviously taking its time leaving her system, because her insides completely melted when she looked up to meet his wide, puppy like eyes.

"Well, firstly…you didn't even know my name." Potter went to interject, but Charlotte's hand which rose as fast as a whip to stop him from continuing, silencing him instantly. She had still yet to get to the most important point, and Circe be damned if she didn't make it exactly clear why she had said no in the first place. "Two, I'm not helping you get with my bloody sister!"

Yes, the incessant fool had begged her to form a camaraderie of sorts in the hopes that it would win her sister's heart. Perhaps if her sister wasn't Lily Evans, she might've helped him, and it just might have worked. As it were, she had the unavoidable _disdainful_ pleasure of being the twin to the fabulous Lily Evans, and no amount of begging could convince her to help him win over her sister.

Charlotte loved her sister; do not forget that one simple fact. She undeniably hated her all the same. She was THE EVANS. As far as the wizarding world knew, Lily Evans doesn't have a sister. Forget the wizarding world, her bloody year never failed to forgot that Lily Evans had a twin sister who was in every class she was, the same bloody house and shared a bloody dorm with her.

Charlotte was simply the plainer version of Lily. Where Lily had voluminous ruby hair which curled against her back charmingly and never seemed to be tangled, Charlotte had dirty blonde hair which was in a constant state of knots and birds' nests no matter how many charms she put on her head. Charlottes deep blue eyes were nothing in contrast to Lily's forest green doe shaped eyes.

Lily was small and petite, Charlotte was tall and had curves which unfortunately couldn't be hidden. Honestly, the only real physical connection that the twins had was their face. They had the same button nose and plumped ruby lips. Same heart shaped face and small chin.

People still questioned their legitimacy whenever they were together however, and no matter how many times Lily told them that _'yes, we are_ twins', and _'no obviously not identical_ ', _'yes we don't look alike', 'obviously because we are not identical_ ', the conversation still resulted in the questioning in Charlotte's legitimacy as an Evans, never Lily.

This was why Charlotte, who both loved and hated her sister, refused to talk about her to anyone else. Potter certainly wasn't the first gentleman who had attempted to approach her in the hopes of getting her sisters attention. He was however doing the best, considering he was sitting before her still, un-hexed and all his bodily functions intact. This was most likely due to the fact that Charlotte couldn't quite bring herself to hex someone who, so far, had only been mildly frustrating because of his interest in her sister.

"Think of it this way," Potter offered, holding his hands out in a silent plea, his eyes still wide. "You help me out, give me tips and stuff about Lily, and I'll do something for you?"

"Potter, not that having you owe me doesn't sound riveting." _Which it truly didn't_. "You do realise my sister can barely stand being in your presence. What makes you think that having my help will increase your chances of dating her?"

Charlotte waited, watching with slight amusement as Potter's blue eyes glanced around the room desperately. She assumed he was looking for an excuse that would convert her to his side of thinking, but his attempts were fruitless.

Even if Charlotte helped him, Lily wouldn't stand for it. From the very moment Lily met Potter she disliked him. Charlotte only knew this because she had spent an entire night back in first year complaining about how _'Insufferable, immature, inappropriate and cruel_ ,' he was. The insults had long since expanded and Charlotte couldn't think of a single person who disliked someone else more than she. Though considering He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was on the rise, she may have some clear competition for that regard.

Charlotte never could understand her clear disdain for him, then again, Lily was a tad of a tight ass who spent far too much time attempting to get herself made head girl, helping others and being liked by the general public to ever sit down and have a conversation with the bloke without hyper analysing everything he said. For all Charlotte knew, Potter could be a total charmer, a sweetheart in disguise. That she doubted, considering he was almost as much a man-whore as his best friend Sirius Black. Still, she liked to think she would judge a person after collecting all the evidence, unlike Lily who took what she saw at face value.

"In my opinion," Potter said with a slight smirk. "All that hate that Lily throws at me, is really her way of dealing with sexual tension, in her own way, she wants me." He gave Charlotte a wink and leaned back from the bench, smiling with a satisfied gleam to his expression. "Quite badly too. Only a matter of time."

Charlotte couldn't help it, she laughed out loud, harder than she had in far too long. In fact, it was so loud it brought most of the room's attention on her and Potter who was glowing a slight pink colour at Charlotte's complete disregard for his explanation.

Really, she couldn't think of anything more ridiculous than assuming Lily's hate towards Potter was sexual tension. Charlotte knew that sexual tension to Lily, would be talking to a boy who liked a book she liked, or discussing deeply a topic they both found passionate. Lily was an ambitious nerd and would never take the time out of her busy schedule to yell at a boy because of 'sexual tension'.

"Thank you very much Potter," Charlotte said, wiping under her eyes and flicking away the imaginary tears underneath. She could see that his embarrassed expression had turned into a scowl and it made her want to laugh all the more, but she managed to hold it back and simply grin brightly. "That was the funniest thing I have heard in a long, long, LONG time."

Charlotte slammed the table with her hand at the last 'long' for extra effect and held back her laughter when he jumped slightly from where he was sitting. She could see he was about to retort, likely something sarcastic or offensive considering the dark look he had on his face, so she stood from the bench and swung her legs out so she could stand.

"Love," Charlotte said in a condescending tone as she leant on the table with both her hands, enjoying the situation and his reaction far too much to be healthy. Lily wouldn't like how this was only making her egotistical nature grow slightly. "Let me explain this very carefully," she said slowly, as though talking to a four-year-old. "Lily doesn't do _'sexual tension_ '. If she says she doesn't like you. She doesn't like you. If she says you have no chance. Well… put it this way Potter, you're probably more likely to turn the entire Gryffindor Quidditch team gay for you before getting my sister."

And with that, Charlotte leaned back from the table watching as Potter sputtered for words. He was seemingly, literally speechless at her slightly offensive and highly sarcastic comment towards his theory. She realised in triumph that she was more sober than not in that moment. Somehow laughing her stomach out managed to shake the after-effects of too much alcohol and not enough sleep. If only she could enjoy this quick cure for hangovers more often.

Curiously, her realisation of Potter's good features had not lessened as her sobriety increased. She, however, disregarded this thought, saving it to analyse at a time where she wasn't standing right in front of him.

"Really Potter, great conversation," Charlotte said, sending a wink his way, watching as he grew red with anger. "I said I wouldn't help you earlier, and I bloody well-meant it."

She headed out of the great hall faster than un-magically possible and directed herself towards the Gryffindor common room. Thankfully as a side effect of waking and eating early, there was still a fair few leaving the common room, so she would have at least 30-40 minutes of silence to attempt to finish the homework she only ever did last minute. Charlotte also had a free first, which would give her another hour to hide any evidence of her activities the night before.

Weaving her way through the Gryffindor's, who all seemed to be leaving the portrait entrance at the exact same time, she found herself entering the common room just as Lily descended the stairs from their shared dorm room.

She couldn't help but roll her eyes as she saw how perfectly perfect her sister looked, knowing that she likely didn't have to do a darn thing to look that good in the morning. She looked lively and determined as she met Charlotte with a wide grin, forcing her twin to attempt a similar smile in return.

"Morning Charlotte," Lily said stepping down off the last step, walking to stand at her sister's side so that they were both leaning against the wall near the portrait. "Got a free first?"

Lily knew Charlotte's timetable back to forth and could likely recite every class she had ever gone to. The only benefit of having a twin who snuck her nose into Charlotte's business far too often, is that Charlotte often forgot where she was meant to be going, and often enlisted the help of her twin, otherwise called; her personal organizer.

Charlotte gave a simple nod in answer and scrutinised Lily for a few seconds, noting that she didn't seem remotely tired or hung-over from last night's festivities. Then again, Lily was doing her prefect rounds last night, and she refused to have any alcohol whatsoever even though they were both of age since January, likely another reason why she didn't like Potter who seemed to be getting drunk whenever the occasion arose. Which was likely every week.

"James Potter approached me at breakfast," Charlotte said with a raised brow, turning to face her sister. She could see it instantly darkened her attitude, as her happy-go-lucky mood fell instantly, along with her cheery smile, replaced by narrowed eyes that gleamed dangerously and a scowl.

"That bastard," Lily seethed looking towards the entrance of the common room as though she was preparing to storm out and hex his brains to oblivion. Sexual tension indeed. The dark aura around her eventually faded with a deep and weary sigh that was unexpected from a girl like Lily, as she slumped against the wall, her shoulders hanging forward.

"Sorry Charlotte," she said with an apologetic smile, placing a hand on Charlotte's arm. "I'll tell him to lay off. No one should have to deal with that Idiot."

And by tell she likely meant yell, by lay off she likely meant to leave both herself and her twin alone otherwise she'd burn his balls off. Actually, that's more like what Charlotte would say, Lily would just yell at him to leave her alone. Now that Charlotte thought of it, perhaps if she did send a small _incendio_ at a certain person's privates, then maybe they would back off…

"Nah don't worry about it," Charlotte said nonchalantly patting her hand which remained on Charlotte's arm. She truly hadn't minded the conversation with Potter. It had been the funniest and most annoying conversation she had ever had with someone who wasn't Lily. Though she didn't exactly have a lot of other people to talk to other than her sister. "Can you believe it was the first time we had ever spoken?"

Lily gave an uncharacteristic scoff and rolled her eyes in a very Charlotte like manner, enough so that Charlotte raised her brows slightly. Lily wrapped her long robes, which had been curled around her arm, on her shoulders and flicked her red hair out from underneath, still as flawless as ever. "Be very thankful, He is an absolute pain in my ass," She said through gritted teeth shaking her head.

Charlotte gave a snort of laughter and rolled her eyes, not at Lily, rather at Potter thinking that the way she speaks of him could tell tales of a hidden struggle of desire she had for him.

"I have no doubt," Charlotte said thoughtfully, realising if she was on the receiving end of Potter's endless attempts at wooing her she'd likely hate the boy as well. "Now go!" She said, nudging her sister with her hip towards the portrait hole. "Go eat some healthy food and learn."

"I plan to," Lily said with a laugh, nudging Charlotte back. As Lily came close to Charlotte however, an unreadable expression passed across her face that made Charlotte furrow her brows in confusion. Lily's eyes widened and she took a step closer to her sister, standing in front of her. Slowly as though fearing what would happen, she leaned forward and sniffed the air around her sister.

"Charlotte!" she gasped taking a step back shaking her head. "Is that… firewhiskey!?"

Oh damn. This is exactly why Charlotte had attempted to remove all smells from her with that extra-long shower. She had even put on different robes, her old ones, which smelt less like alcohol. Somehow her brilliant twin managed to see through both attempts anyway.

Charlotte's smile disappeared and she shook her head strongly, the action almost robotic in its authenticity. "No."

"Damnit Charlotte!" Lily cried hitting Charlotte hard on the arm. _Clearly_ , she hadn't believed her. "You know how I feel about you drinking!"

Yes, Charlotte knew _very well_ how Lily felt. She told her every time she came in the vicinity of a bottle of whiskey, rum and butterbeer.

"Lily, honestly, I didn't drink anything alcohol. Just a butterbeer or two." Charlotte lied, rolling her eyes and softly rubbing the sensitive area her sister had managed to abuse. Lily may be very petite and her arms much smaller in diameter than her sister, but she could punch like an absolute beast. "I was celebrating," Charlotte explained.

"What could you possibly be celebrating Charlotte?" she asked impatiently, tapping her foot on the ground and crossing her arms in a very authorative _'I'm a prefect so answer me now_ ' way. "Because I know damn well you were not celebrating Quidditch with the Gryffindor's Charlotte Amaryllis!"

Uh oh. Middle name used.

"Umm… I got second in my class for that potions exam," Charlotte said slowly, cautiously and with a laugh. Her sister, however, didn't look impressed by her answer at all. Her lips were pursed and eyes narrowed so thinly that her usual bright green eyes appeared dismal. For minutes the sisters stood there watching each other, Charlotte with amusement and annoyance and Lily with fear and suspicion. Lily had every right to act this way in her eyes, and Charlotte just felt like her sister was acting like her mum AGAIN.

"Lily, it's not like before," Charlotte said seriously, the humour clearing from her voice.

She knew why her sister feared her drinking habits. Ever since Charlotte had discovered fire whiskey, she had found a secret solace and pathetic friendship with the drink. At first it would just be a ¼ of a glass after studying to help her sleep better. When she felt lonely, which was often, she would drink a full glass. Then she would have several glasses and several more until she passed out.

It eventually became the only way she could get to sleep after studying all night and attempting to forget that hardly a single other person in Hogwarts other than her twin could give a rat's ass about her. Several drinks turned into several bottles until she wound up in the hospital wing, having the alcohol magically removed by the school nurse. That's when dearest perfect Lily discovered her less than perfect twin had a drinking problem.

Not that Lily could ever understand considering she had more friends and followers than ever necessary. She would never understand what it is to be invisible behind a sister who is practically worshiped. To be second place in everything to the only other person that matters. To know that the one person who knew you best was also the person who withheld you from reaching your full potential. To have to confide all your deepest, darkest thoughts to yourself because there simply was no one else.

Ever since then, which was almost a year ago, she checked on Charlotte almost every night. Looked through her drawers, and confiscated any alcohol she found in the Gryffindor common room, just in case.

Charlotte had practically 0 privacy, for months. Her parents were furious and Petunia, their older sister, thought the whole ordeal was hilarious. So Charlotte cut back on drinking for several months, taking only a small amount here or there when she found herself a small moment of time away from her perfect sister and the eyes of the worried professors. However, like everything she did, the professors forgot about the incident and her, and Lily became too absorbed with their sixth year to watch Charlotte closely. So the drinking started again, at a lesser, safer level than earlier.

Lily watched Charlotte for several moments, most likely assessing the honesty in her statement and eventually sighed, something she apparently did often these days. She grabbed Charlotte by the arms and pulled her into a tight hug. At first Charlotte smiled softly, appreciating the affection she received from her sister, but when several moments passed by and she was still gripped tightly around the neck, which meant she had to lean down to meet her midget sister height, she coughed slightly.

"Uh Lily….?"

"Hmm?"

"Get off me." Lily laughed and softened her death grip around Charlotte until she could breathe properly again, then released her completely. Charlotte gave her a somewhat grateful smile which immediately dropped when Lily patted the top of her head like she was a little girl.

Charlotte swatted her hand away with a frown and placed her hands on her hips, pouting her lips dramatically.

"Lily your only 40 minutes older than me, why do you treat me like I'm 5!" Charlotte whined stamping her foot on the carpeted floor in mock seriousness. She sounded very much like a five-year-old and Lily laughed, her cheery mood returning. Which had been Charlotte's hopes all along. It really did irritate her the way Lily treated her sometimes, but now wasn't exactly the time to approach that topic.

"Probably because you act like it Lottie dearest," She said with a wink waggling her shaped eyebrows effortlessly. Charlotte rolled her eyes at the nickname, knowing she only said it to get a reaction out of her.

With a laugh Charlotte shoved her twin towards the portrait watching as Lily mockingly waved at her.

"Seeya Lil's!" Charlotte yelled as Lily stepped through the portrait hole and out towards the hallway, leaving her to the peaceful quiet of the empty common room that looked remarkably clean considering only last night all the upperclassman, excluding Slytherin's of course who lost the Quidditch game, had been lounging around the large space, music flowing through the room and alcohol seemingly in a never ending supply.

With a sigh she made her way to the dorm she shared with her sister, getting rid of the alcohol bottles which had thankfully rolled under her bed sometime during the night, meaning Lily wasn't aware of how much Charlotte had been drinking.

Charlotte sat down at their shared study table which, after several years of use, had carvings that Charlotte had charmed to never be removed, all over the front and sides. She pulled out some blank parchment, her potions textbook and Lily's essay which she had snagged from her bag before the Quidditch game yesterday, and began to finish the last few points of her essay with the assistance of her sister's work.

By the time she was done, breakfast was over, and it was halfway through her free class time. Really she should be studying, considering she hoped she would beat Lily in at least one of their classes this year, however, her beautiful bed began singing an unearthly tune that tugged the very strings of her heart, seemingly calling her name softly, building up a sleepiness inside her that she only ever felt when listening to Professor Slughorn rant on during his 'slug club' events, which occurred, and she went to, far too often.

"Can't exactly deny that request," Charlotte mumbled sleepily, falling face first onto her white pillow, her eyes drawing shut instantly, drowsiness overtaking her body. She fell into a blissful sleep that went on interrupted for several hours.

Several hours _past_ her free period and into her class time.

"OH BLOODY HELL!"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter rating: K+

POVs: Charlotte Evans

Word Count: 3,441 words

Date Revised: 13/09/2017

Chapter Two

* * *

(~Charlotte Evans~)

Never in her life had Charlotte ran so fast out of the common room painting, disregarding her appearance entirely, knowing whether or not she attended to it, it would likely be horrendous, and pushed past all students in her way towards her charms classroom. Charlotte had also never felt so bloody unfit in her life. When she arrived at the doorway she allowed herself several moments to simply catch her breath, knowing that if she burst into the room panting like a crazed dog, she would receive all sorts of unwanted attention.

Charlotte had managed to sleep through 3 of her classes after she had completed her essay that morning, and found herself desperately trying to attend her double charms, knowing that her punishment for wagging would at least be lessened by attending one class. She could attempt to come up with an excuse for being so late, but Professor McGonagall, her transfiguration professor as well as head of house, would smell through her lie faster than she could tell it. So she would relent to receive her punishment as she no doubt deserved it.

With a quick flick of her wand and an un-ushered _tempus_ , she thankfully sighed. Charlotte had managed to arrive outside her classroom with minutes to spare and could make her way into the classroom without reprimand. The clock flickered away without her say so, and when Charlotte attempted to get it back up again, her wand simply made an odd hissing sound.

Pushing the door slightly, Charlotte peered into the classroom to find that all of the Ravenclaw and most Gryffindor sixth years were already standing around the classroom, chatting in small groups or sitting, furiously writing down the homework they had all been given days ago that Charlotte had, surprisingly, completed the night it had been given.

As quietly as possible, she managed to slink her way to the very back of the classroom, claiming the corner generally reserved for her in all classes. From there, she had a generally good view of the entire classroom where she could see all the students, but they didn't notice her. It was both perfect and a rather painful realisation that this was her life. Hiding because she was used to being hidden, and observing from the outside because she got tired of trying to fit in.

"I said no more Potter!" Lily cried from the front of the classroom, sitting down at a table in the first row, her body completely turned away from Potter who was sitting on the chair next to her, seemingly attempting to desperately ask her something. She, however, wouldn't hear of it, as she kept giving him snarky remarks. The boy was either daft or genuinely in love with Lily because he really didn't understand the meaning of no.

"Bloody hell," Charlotte murmured, watching with a grimace at his pathetic attempts to woo her sister. How did he not understand by now that she didn't appreciate his slightly obsessive and creepy behaviour towards her? It just didn't seem natural the way he followed her around always vying for her attention, and Lily obviously saw this, otherwise she'd likely be putty in his hands like most other girls at Hogwarts.

He had on the same adorably pathetic expression he had used ruthlessly that morning on Charlotte, however it was apparently highly unsuccessful with Lily as she didn't even bat a single eyelash or lose a breath of air as Charlotte had. If she had to give him points for anything, it would be his persistence. Even now he stood at her table talking to her as though she wasn't blankly refusing to acknowledge his presence. Apparently Charlotte wasn't the only one who thought so, as girls around them, Ravenclaw and Gryffindor alike sent shocked and furious looks towards Lily, which was definitely surprising considering everyone loved Lily Evans.

"It's the first time he's ever had to work to get a girl," a voice said from Charlotte's right, making her jump slightly in her seat. She turned and met the stormy eyes of a smug looking boy leaning against the table next to her. Just as she had with Potter that morning, she found herself completely shocked at her recognition that she was checking him out.

He had dark shaggy shoulder length hair that made him look like he rolled out of bed and fell into the classroom, though she knew from being in the same class as him since first year that his hair, like Potters, always seemed to be that messy. His mouth was quirked into a small smirk as he turned and watched as his friend was once again, let down by her sister. His cocky and over-confident demeanour for some reason annoyed Charlotte, and the way he leaned casually against the table made her want to push him off.

She opted for questioning his comment instead.

"Is that why he's trying so hard?" Charlotte asked with only slight interest. She looked back to the boy rolling her eyes when he winked at her. He slumped from the table into the chair and turned so he was facing Charlotte completely.

Charlotte couldn't exactly fathom why he was suddenly taking an interest in her. Once. Only _Once_ she had spoken to him, in their third year. He had asked her for a quill, as he had apparently forgotten his own. She told him, in all seriousness, to _'piss off and get your own_.' She winced at the memory, knowing he likely would have forgotten it by now only slightly lessened her embarrassment at her bitchy attitude that day. That was a bad day for her however, as she'd been sat on by no less than 3 students in different classes and during the evening meal.

Charlotte didn't exactly intend to take out her anger on the next person she spoke to, but she did and though even Lily didn't like the boy, she had pulled Charlotte aside to tell her that she had been extremely rude to someone who just wanted to borrow a quill. Ever the good citizen.

Charlotte was smart enough to know that she hadn't attracted the best looking male in the school because he suddenly thought she was pretty. No, she knew it definitely had something to do with the situation going on with his friend and her sister, because, to her ever increasing disappointment, no one every approached Charlotte because they wanted to talk to Charlotte, _about_ Charlotte.

He still faced her whilst answering her question, giving all his attention to her for the moment.

"Probably," he said with a lazy shrug of his broad shoulders. "He does fancy her though, in his own weird way."

"Weird…" She said slowly, turning away from the boy back towards her sister who was currently swatting away Potter's attempts to hold her hand. She appreciated that she wasn't the only one who thought Potter's obsession with her sister was beyond normal, however weird didn't seem to cut it. "I'd call it slightly more obsessive, leaning on perverse."

The boy threw his head back and barked out a loud laughter that had, at first startled, and then half-smiling at his carefree joy. It surprised even her that he was seemingly so genuine, so human. It might sound conceited, but after she had been tucked away beneath Lily's shadow for so long, watching others, she had come to realise that boys like this were idolised at Hogwarts by both teachers and students. It was almost as weird as watching Potter flirt with Lily, watching the boy show a normal human reaction.

As he stopped laughing, shaking his head with a wide smile on his face, he leaned towards Charlotte, extending his arm and hand to her.

"Sirius," He said by way of introduction, winking as Charlotte held his hand in her own giving it a firm shake with a smirk of her own. Though just this morning she had been thinking of him as a man-whore, Charlotte was surprised to find her opinion of him changed in an instant. For all her years at school, she had assumed he was a prat, having the girls wrapped around his finger and charming his was out of every situation he got caught in.

No seriously, _everything_. Somehow Sirius Black managed to convince Professor Slughorn that, even though he was caught in the potions classroom as all the cauldrons had been transfigured into ugly little kneazles, with his wand out, he had actually been in the room reversing the transfiguration. Slughorn believed him and actually awarded points to Gryffindor for Sirius's ' _Initiative_ '. That was only one instance; there have been many more situations where Sirius had found a way to either revert blame or remove it indefinitely. It wasn't exactly a wonder of how he did it, just the sight of him smirking made Charlottes insides squirm. A highly inappropriate and hateful reaction in her opinion.

"Charlotte," she said, raising a brow as he looked her up and down curiously.

"You don't look much like your sister" he mumbled still watching her closely, as though taking mental notes. "Or act like her."

Oh bloody hell. Why is it that people couldn't understand why Charlotte hated to be compared to her sister? Unlike Lily who likely got compliments on how pretty or smart she was, Charlotte usually got snuffed. Once she had received a comment which was neither positive nor negative. _'Her hair is red, yours is blonde_ '. That was it, and she had never felt happier when her uncle had said it to her.

"Thank you for that piece of useful information genius," she bit sarcastically, leaning back in her chair and rolling her eyes. "Was it the blonde hair, blue eyes or my snarky shitty attitude that gave it away?"

Sirius smiled widely and winked at her, making Charlotte roll her eyes again, turning slightly so he couldn't see the slight blush that rose on her cheeks, though he no doubt was used to the reaction. He thankfully didn't go into details about Lily and Charlotte's differences. Whether he knew it was a sensitive and dangerous topic didn't seem to matter, as she was appreciative none the less.

"I like you Char," Sirius said, resting his hands behind his head as he watched her with a cocky smile on his face. "You've got spunk."

"That has got to be one of the worst nicknames for Charlotte I have ever heard," She said incredulously, ignoring his compliment in favour for the odd nickname he gave her. Really, her heart had hammered dangerously at his statement, not used to an attractive male saying he liked her. But if she thought about what he said, she would blush, and if she blushed he would see. She couldn't give him the satisfaction of knowing he could get the same reaction out of her that he elicited from other girls.

Honestly, it wasn't as though her panties were about to drop, she just wasn't used to all this bloody attention!

"Char?" He asked, closing his eyes and shrugging his shoulders. "Dunno, just seemed to suit you honestly."

Charlotte scoffed and rolled her eyes, making one of Sirius' eyes peek open and watch her curious reaction. " _Char sounds like a name for a bloody prostitute_ ," she mumbled kicking her scuffed shoes against the foot of the table. Sputtering brought her attention to her right and she watched wide eyed as Sirius attempted to catch his breath through his shocked laughter.

Charlotte smiled widely and began laughing at his shocked expression.

"You know, you're not so bad," Charlotte said with a smile, watching as his shock disappeared in place of a devious smirk as he leaned forward towards her.

"Oh?" he asked, resting his chin on his hand, watching her smugly.

"Yeah, I always thought you were a bit of an insufferable prat," His smirk fell and she grinned at him, winking before continuing, looking forwards at the rest of the classroom.  
"You're far more bearable than Potter."

"Aw, he's not so bad," Sirius said, defending his friend. They both watched the boy in question for a few moments. He, at that very second, chose to begin clutching his chest dramatically, falling to the floor near her sister's feet. Lily simply rolled her eyes and ignored his antics, opting to talk to her friend, Alice, who sat on her left. "Once you get to know him," Sirius amended with a wince, realising his friend looked every much an idiot in that moment.

"I'm sure," Charlotte said with a snort, rolling her eyes..

"You should accept his offer," Sirius said, all hints of gaiety gone

Ah there it is. What would the muggles say… Bingo? Charlotte had been wondering the point to their conversation, no matter how much she was enjoying it. She should have known that Potter would have enlisted his womanising best friends help to make her help him. If not Sirius, then possibly Remus Lupin, who from what she knew, was one of the kindest people you could meet. I doubt he would have asked Peter Pettigrew, the fourth member of their 'boy band', as he was either deathly allergic to those who with female reproductive organs, or simply scared of girls.

It was actually rather hurtful to Charlotte, especially considering she had been enjoying talking to Sirius the past few minutes, only to find he had an agenda for the whole conversation. What annoyed her most was the warmth in her stomach towards his obvious care for his friend, enough so that he would go out of his way to talk to her. Warmness aside, she was still royally peeved.

"Look Sirius," She said facing him, all trace of a smile gone. "My sister does not like Potter. Romantically or otherwise. I don't understand what you or Potter think I can do to help, not that I want to, but what exactly do you expect of me?"

He was surprisingly quick to answer, making Charlotte wonder if Potter had drilled him to say exactly what he had.

"He wants you to tell him what she likes," Sirius said with an uncommitted shrug, looking at Charlotte with a small smile. "The best way to approach her, what interests she has, her favourite food etc. etc. Honestly the bloke is willing to change a whole lot if it means your sister will spare him a glance.'

Charlotte frowned deeply and shook her head. "Why would he do that?"

"Want to change?" Sirius guessed with a raised brow, no doubt confused at her reaction. "I dunno. I guess everyone changes eventually right? Well if it means that Evans… Sorry… Lily, will like him for it, then that's what he is prepared to do."

Inwardly she was groaning loudly and beating on the floor of her brain with imaginary fists. She couldn't fathom why someone would want to completely change who they are for another person, especially when they barely knew that other person. No matter how perfect Lily's appearance was, Charlotte thought that this was taking things too far.

"That's just sad," Charlotte said with a sigh, turning from Sirius to where Potter was. He had moved on from her sister and was now talking to Remus Lupin, both Sirius and Potter's best friend and her main academic competition other than lily, though he likely didn't know it, considering Charlotte was invisible. Potter was talking exuberantly with big hand gestures and very weird facial expressions that made Remus chuckle softly as he listened to whatever Potter was saying closely.

"What makes you say that?" Sirius asked curiously. Charlotte didn't move her eyes away from Potter, even as she felt Sirius's gaze on her. She was completely focused on studying the boy who was willing to do so much for her sister's affection.

It was painful to Charlotte, his need for her attention. She understood it far too well. The desire to change who you are, in the hopes of finally being understood and cared for. Though Charlotte had felt that way to no particular person, rather everyone in general, she still felt a tug at her stomach as she observed him and the glances he cautiously sent towards her sister every few moments.

"Why would he want to change?" Charlotte said simply. "He seems like such a happy person, even if he is bordering on weird. Shouldn't he be looking for someone who will accept him as he is? Not someone who will only fancy him if he is a completely different person?" Charlotte turned back to Sirius who looked rather startled, as though he had never given the thought any merit. "Don't get me wrong, I know people change. I just always assumed it was for the better of the individual for themselves, not so someone else would like them."

Charlotte shook her head away from her thoughts and looked away from Sirius's stormy eyes that seemed to pull her into a trap of honestly she wasn't sure she was comfortable with.

"Maybe I'm being silly, or over analysing things," Charlotte said with a sigh. "I have a tendency to do that."

"No, I understand what you're saying. It worries me too, I've just never been able to put it into words," He admitted rather sheepishly, running a hand through his unruly hair. "I just want… whatever makes him happy."

Charlotte studied the bare honestly and obvious care on Sirius's face as he looked at his friend. She longed for someone to feel that way about her, for someone to care enough as Sirius obviously did for Potter. What she felt in that moment couldn't be described as jealousy or even envy. It was something much rawer and more desperate. Enough that it hurt her to see the way Sirius was watching Potter. Her chest was heavy and she felt tears in her eyes.

Distantly she wondered if Sirius was doing this on purpose, using the fact that she had no friends against her by showing the brotherly love he had for his friend. She ignored the feeling for the moment, knowing if she found out that was the case, she would just kill him. Okay maybe not _kill_ him. Seriously maim.

"Damnit," She muttered her teeth gritted tightly together and her eyes shut, avoiding Sirius's curious gaze at her obvious pained expression. "I'll think about it."

She peeked an eyelid open and saw his face broken in a wide smile that lit up his stormy eyes to new hues. His mouth was formed into a genuine grin showing a row of straight white teeth, highlighting the laugh lines gathered around his eyes which somehow made him look endearing. Charlotte sighed and slumped forward slightly but sat completely straight the next moment when she felt and hand covering her own.

Looking down, she looked on in amazement as Sirius covered her hand which had been on the table, with his own larger one. Instantly warmth filled her at his unnecessary and painful affection. If people kept doing and saying nice things to her, then she would begin to become accustomed, and that was never a good thing for someone who had no friends.

Charlotte met his eyes again when his hand slipped from her own and was relieved to find he was smiling softly, no trace of a smug or cocky smirk at her reaction. The action seemed to be genuinely kind and she felt her cheeks heat as his hand brushed hers.

"You're cute when you blush," he said with a wink, turning away as Professor Flitwick entered the room and the students began filing into the seats.

And just like that, he had somehow ruined an entirely genuine and innocent conversation with his incessant need to flirt. One minute he proved he was more than the ladies man everyone proclaimed he was, showing genuine care and sharing a somewhat witty conversation, the next he gave her a one liner that couldn't possibly pick up a girl even if she was already hanging around his shoulders.

She fell wondrously, stupidly and unknowingly into his trap of smirks, smiles and alluring grins, finding herself caring about Potter who that morning, she had publicly rebuked.

 _'_ _This was turning out to be quite a day,'_ Charlotte thought rubbing her forehead when she felt the impending doom of a headache, caused by the ridiculous boy sitting next to her who, she had a feeling, she would be seeing quite a bit more of in the future.


	3. Chapter 3

" ** _A bargain, ain't a bargain, unless its something you need."_**

 **Chapter Three:**

* * *

(~Charlotte~)

Only the faint pattering of socked feet could be heard throughout the hallway outside the library, and even that wasn't cause for much distress. It could easily be misconstrued for the whispering of wind, at least that's what Charlotte hoped.

Her wand was out and at the ready, tucked under the folds of her long woollen robes as she peered down the passageway near her expected destination. Her heart was hammering in her chest and an unnecessary amount of adrenaline was pumping through her body at her current disregard for school rules. That always seemed rather unfair to Charlotte, how her body could be excited for something she shouldn't be doing.

She wanted to run towards the library doors and swing them open with a slam, dancing around in the doorway. Why, she couldn't tell you, as it would completely destroy the point of her going late at night and attempting to be quiet. She guessed it to be the adrenaline which made her want to act weirdly.

Slyly, she slipped through the shadows towards the library, and began lifting the locking spells on the door. Surprisingly there was only three, so it took her no longer than a minute for the door to safely open without any altercation. Her eyes swept over the room quickly, once deducing she was alone, she resealed the library doors and locked the door behind her, knowing if a professor or prefect came and saw the locking charms removed, they would immediately assume a student or worse had entered the library.

For weeks now she had been coming to the library late at night, every moment she could spare, whether it was to study for exams or study strange and wondrous magic that she had never experienced. Tonight however, she was hoping to find a book she had been looking for since she first began her trek to the library in the middle of night.

As she loosened her robes slightly, which hung over her regular pants and singlet pyjamas, she walked slowly towards the back of the library. Her fingers travelled along numerous old and new binders as she walked past, breathing a content sigh. Unlike Lily who only read for educational purpose, Charlotte had a passion for reading and learning as much as possible from books. No matter what it was, if it interested her, then she learnt it. Lately her curiosity had brought her past the gates of the restricted section to the more, interesting forms of reading.

Just as she had before, she let her fingers glide across the bindings as she searched for the name of the book she was searching for. Charlotte had to bite her lip in concentration when she realised her mind kept drifting to other books which caught her eye, making a silent promise she would get to them eventually.

Just as she thought the book was once again, borrowed by another, she let out a soft excited squeal seeing the title she had searched for, for weeks. It was brown, tattered, and sat high on a shelf, looking all together insignificant and unworthy of being read. The binding was mostly broken, and the words seemed to jumble on its side, no doubt being many years old.

Charlotte leaned up to get the book, but surprisingly wasn't tall enough to get it. Considering she was just under 6ft, it felt as though someone had purposely placed the one book she wanted on the highest shelf in the damn library.

Her fingers glided across the edges of the brown book, and she let out a frustrated grunt. It shouldn't be this hard to grab a bloody book. Charlotte turned and looked around the restricted section, finding a stool not 2 ft away, bringing it just under the bookcase she was standing at and stepping up so she was eye level with the book. She easily pulled the book out and held it lovingly within her hands, simply staring at the front cover for a few moments.

Charlotte stepped down from the stool and opened the book carefully reading the first page with a wide smile.

'Yes!' She cried reading exactly as she hoped she would find within the book.

'Charlotte?' A voice asked from the shadow of the night startling her to the point where she madly threw the delicate book in front of her and jumped back , hitting her head against the bookshelf with an echoed 'thunk'.

'Ow' she groaned holding her head with her hand and frowning at the bookcase as though it had intentionally hurt her.

Charlotte's eyes darted around the room looking for her small brown book, and begrudgingly found it at the feet of the person who had called her name. She couldn't see who it was as they were still in darkness, but she had heard the voice, and knew enough to know it was definitely male.

He slowly stepped out of the shadow, and Charlotte was surprised to find herself staring wide eyed at James Potter who was currently reaching for the book carelessly thrown on the floor. Alarm bells rang in Charlotte's mind but they softened with no small amount of relief when Potter held the book out slightly as though to give it to her.

She stepped forward to grab it, but instead felt her hand pass through thin air as he retracted the book reading the title with wide alarmed eyes.

'Give it here, lover boy,' she hissed jumping forward in an attempt to grab the book. He simply held the book higher out of her reach and continued to look at the title with wide eyes.

His gaze switched from the small book in his hand towards Charlotte enough times that she felt dizzy.

Damnit damnit damnit.

'Animagus?' He whisper/yelled at Charlotte, a mixed expression of horror and shock on his face. She couldn't fathom why the book would cause a reaction like this. Sure, she was dabbling in magic she had no right (and legal permission) to learn, but it wasn't exactly enough to horrify someone.

He looked like she had just personally offended his favourite quidditch team.

'Err,' she stuttered, utterly unsure of how to get her out of this unfortunate and annoying situation. 'I was just... Uh...'

She couldn't exactly lie to him and say it was just sitting on the table, he had managed to creep up on her as she had excitedly pulled it from the shelf. She could always be honest and say she was interested in reading the book for a school... Project, but he was in all of her classes.

Godric, all these weeks of hard work could be for nothing because of the idiot standing before her. She had been fascinated with animagi since her very first transfiguration lesson. She could still remember staring wide eyed as the small tabby cat transformed into Professor Mcgonagall. When she had found out that there was little to no chance of being allowed to become an animagi, at least not for many many years, she had only concluded that she would have to do it in secret. However attempting to turn yourself into bloody animal when you had no idea of how to do it was rather difficult. Hence the animagus book she had tried to 'borrow' the last few weeks

Considering even attempting to become an animagus was highly dangerous, possibly deadly at her age, she wanted to have as much information she could get. Having potter turn up just as she had caught her hands on the one thing that could possibly help her was just bloody brilliant. What she really needed was the idiot, who wanted her help to date her sister, to know about her illegal affairs.

One word to another student or a single professor and her hopes of becoming an animagus would be _reducto_ 'd to naught.

'DAMNIT' she yelled loudly, kicking the bookcase next to her, watching as it shook slightly with her weak attempt at abuse.

'Oi!' Potter hissed, grabbing onto her arm before she started beating away at the books in the shelves. 'Unless you want to get caught in the restricted section at this time of night with this book, i highly suggest you lower your voice.'

She pulled her arm from his grip and sighed. How was it that James bloody Potter was suddenly her voice of reason. Charlotte nodded her head slightly to show she wasn't going to go around destroying any of the books and instead slumped down into a nearby seat.

'Why do you have this?' Potter asked holding up the small brown book in his hand. His expression was thankfully merely curious and all traces of horror that had been on display not moments ago had disappeared. It made Charlotte somewhat less hesitant to answer, though not exactly enough to trust him with the truth.

'My answer depends on whether you intend on blabbering it to anyone,' Charlotte said with a sigh, watching as he considered her for a few moments, a brow raised and scepticism clear on his face.

Potter was leaning on the bookshelf opposite her, the brown book in one hand and the other cupping his chin in thought. He was still in his school robes and his hair was as messy as it had been the other day when he had approached her during breakfast. She hadn't exactly forgotten about their conversation concerning her sister, she was however surprised he had remembered her. Not many people remembered her name after just one conversation, and she felt touched that he had, though considering their conversation had been about lily, that feeling was short lived.

'I won't.' Potter said eventually, standing straighter against the bookcase. He didn't exactly appear to be lying, then again she couldn't be sure without Veritaserum. She had no reason to trust him, and several not to. For one, James Potter and his gang of merry men were known for causing trouble and mischief around the school, he could also use the knowledge to his advantage by blackmailing her to help him with Lily. She saw no positive advantage to telling him, other than the slim to none possibility that he wouldn't tell anyone and give her the book back, which is really all she wanted.

'I see no reason to trust you,' she pointed out with a brow raised, crossing her arms on her chest. 'Can you not just give me the book and pretend you never saw me?'

Fat chance of that happening, but it was worth a shot to at least ask.

'Now why would i want to do that, you've made me all curious.' He said with an infuriating smirk. 'Besides, ill give you the book back when you tell me why you have it.'

Charlotte looked at him with unveiled distrust and apprehension. Potter rolled his eyes and lifted his right hand slightly in the air.

'I solemnly swear.' He said as though it held all the weight of the world in that one promise. Charlotte rolled her eyes and stood up from the chair.

'Sorry mate, but your solemn swearing doesn't mean much to me.' His brows furrowed at her complete lack of confidence in such a statement, though Charlotte didn't understand what he expected of her. Did he really think that saying he would 'solemnly swear' not to tell anyone she would just ultimately believe him.

'You've got some serious trust issues.'

'And you have glasses, can i have my book now?'

'I already said i would give you the book once you tell me why you have it,' Potter sighed in exasperation as Charlotte rolled her eyes again. 'I may seem like an annoying prat, but i'm a loyal annoying prat. I don't break my promises. Ever.'

Charlotte watched the furrow of his brows and curiosity in his eyes with calculating eyes. For some reason he honestly didn't seem to be lying. She just couldn't fathom why he wanted to know so bad. She could possibly understand his curiosity if she were Lily, he seemed to want to know anything and everything about her sister, but Charlotte and Potter weren't even friends. His curiosity genuinely didn't make sense.

'Why do you want to know so bad?' She asked slowly, deciding that whether or not she told him would be dependent on his answer.

'Lets just say i know a little about the topic you seem to want to know about so badly.' His expression hasn't changed since earlier and Charlotte accepted that he wasn't lying. If anything, he seeme

'I want to become an animagus,'She said in a small voice, avoiding his eyes which seemed to burn through her averted gaze anyway. 'I've been trying for months, but its alot harder than i thought it would be. I knew the school had this book, but it had been borrowed out for the past few weeks, someone finally returned it.'

Slowly as though hesitant of what she would do, Potter lowered the book till it was in front of charlotte. She took the book in her hands, still not meeting his eyes, and looked at the brown book with a defeated sigh.

'I was hoping it... the book, would tell me how to do it,' she admitted, shaking her head slowly, realising how ridiculous she sounded to herself.

Potter was surprisingly quiet for several moments and Charlotte eventually looked up to meet his clear blue eyes. He seemed to be staring at Charlotte in frustration, looking as though he was trying to decide something when he didn't move his gaze. The corner of his mouth kept twitching and every few seconds he shook his head slightly though pushing away a thought.

In Charlotte's eyes, he was likely deciding whether or not to tell a teacher about her fascination with the topic. If he did, she likely wouldn't be able to murmur the word animagus without the ministry being contacted. Eventually Potter did look away, but it was only for a few seconds, and when he fixed his eyes back on hers, they were startlingly serious.

'Ill make you a deal,' he said in a low voice, taking a step closer towards Charlotte. _I knew it_ Charlotte thought. He's going to bloody blackmail her into helping him now. Well thats what happens when you hand out your trust like its nothing Charlotte, you get ripped off and burned out.

'Ill help you become an Animagi, if you help me with Lily.' Charlotte's mouth flopped open and she stood gaping at him. If he was saying exactly what she thought he was saying then that meant that he… that he…

'Your… your a… your-'

'Yes,' Potter answered with a laugh, apparently finding her overwhelming shock to be a good source of amusement. 'I'm an Animagi myself, though id appreciate you didn't disclose that information with anyone, considering i'm unregistered and id rather not end up in Azkaban at the ripe age of 17.'

Had Charlotte not been in a state of shock which rendered her immobilised somewhat similar to _petrificus totalus_ , she likely would have laughed or at least smirked at his frank honesty. Though all she could do was continued to stand in front of him, mouth hanging open and her eyes wide in a mixture of excitement and awe.

Potter snapped his fingers in front of her face and instantly the spell was broken. She began jumping up and down slightly with a wide grin, a clear show of her excitement.

'What's your form?!' she whispered eagerly. Though the question could be considered somewhat personal, therefore inappropriate to ask, she couldn't exactly help it. The only animagus she had seen was Professor Mcgonagall who had outright refused to discuss anything on animagus with her after she had seen how keen Charlotte was to learn about the topic.

Potter laughed quietly to himself as he watched Charlotte practically burst from impatience as she waited for him to answer her question with anticipation.

'Do we have a deal?' He asked with a wolfish smirk which didn't exactly hide his own amusement at her sudden change of mood.

As Charlotte had stepped forward slightly, she could easily see every fleck and pattern of his eyes, and was silently stunned, her grin falling instantly. Though his eyes had appeared to be a bright and mischievous blue just the other morning and only moments ago, now, as she stood only a foot away, she realised they were instead Hazel. Just around his irus, a caramel brown seemed to leak out of its own accord, ringing around the black and contrasting with the blue in a way that could only be described as magic.

They were not as bright as Lily's forest green eyes, or as ceaseless as Sirius's storm, but they had their own spectacular distinctive aspect that was fascinating. She also knew that the longer she stared into his eyes, the more she wanted to trust him. Lily had told her that he was a womaniser, prankster, troublemaker, rude, loud, obnoxious and completely up himself. It wasn't exactly a list of endearing qualities for a lasting friendship or 'partnership' as he was suggesting.

'So let me get this straight,' Charlotte said thoughtfully. 'You'll instruct me on how to become an animagus?'

'Yes, and in return, you help me get a date with your lovely sister. Possibly even help me with the date. Depending on how that goes, that can be the end of the agreement.' He said with a small shrug. For someone who just revealed a secret that could in all truthfulness, land him in azkaban, he was acting rather nonchalant.

'So, until i become an animagus,'Charlotte said pointing at herself than potter. 'and you have a successful date with my dearest twin, neither can back out on the agreement?'

'Seems only right,' he agreed shaking his head in the affirmative slowly. He held his hand out in front of him and waited for Charlotte to reluctantly shake it.

'So whats your form?' Charlotte asked again with a wide smile, eliciting a laugh from him who dropped her hand, leaning back against the bookcase.

'You'll see when i show you love,' he answered with a wink sending a heated blaze towards Charlotte's cheeks. That isn't exactly the answer she was hoping for knowing he likely wouldn't show her for quite some time.

'You're a tease James Potter,' Charlotte mumbled with a pout, watching as his smirk grew wider across his face.

'Don't i know it,' He winked again and Charlotte snorted and rolled her eyes at his egotistical nature. He really had no chance of Lily fancying him acting like this. He'd be damn lucky to get a conversation with her sister which didn't end in her yelling or ignoring him.

'And a bloody idiot,' Charlotte said, repeating what she had called him the other morning at his suggestion. Potter's smug expression morphed into a sad puppy frown as he pouted his lips. Unlike the first time he used this tactic on her, she simply smirked, discouraging the need to hug him.

'So how is this going to work?'Charlotte asked, moving to sit back in the wooden chair she often used for her secret study sessions during the night. The table and chair were in the farthest corner of the library meaning it was hard to see from the front, but allowed a perfect view of the library, enabling her to make a quick escape if necessary.

It also gave her the perfect angle to scrutinise Potter as he leaned casually against the bookcase. It was rather unsettling how unconcerned he seemed. They were in the bloody restricted section of the library in the late hours of the night discussing disobeying not only school rules, but rules set by the ministry for magic that have been around for hundreds of years. Just the thought of what she was planning to do made her heart quicken and dance sporadically in her chest.

'Well for one,'Potter said, his head back resting on the books behind him, his eyes close. He had a slight frown on his face and looked to be in deep concentration. Really it gave Charlotte the perfect view of his well formed jaw and she wondered how on earth some bone shown through skin could suddenly seem attractive. 'You can't tell Lily,'

Charlotte laughed at his statement but stopped when she realised he had opened his eyes and he was staring t her with an all too serious gaze.

'Believe me Potter, Lily finding out that you're helping me become an animagus would be nothing compared to her finding out that i'm helping you.' Charlotte shuddered at the thought of Lily ever finding out about their agreement. She would likely be beyond furious and either hate Charlotte or avoid her for the rest of their lives.

'True,' Potter said, his eyes widening slightly as though they had been thinking similar thoughts.

'Every second tuesday we work on you and lily, and thursday we work on my animagus… How's that sound?' Charlotte asked hopefully. Potter seemed to consider his options, eventually nodding his head with a sigh.

'Yeah alright. But it would have to be late enough that Lily wouldn't see us, and definitely after Quidditch.' He was starting to pace in the small space between them, at a speed that was slowly making Charlotte feel dizzy. He suddenly stopped and pointed his index finger at her with a frown. 'You can't tell any of your friends.'

Charlotte gave a very un-lady-like snort and rolled her eyes, dragging her feet on top of the table, her black converse scuffing across the smooth surface.

'I wouldn't have anyone to tell.' She said honestly, slightly infuriated she had to share this particular insecurity with him. 'Lily is really my only friend.'

'Really?' He asked confused. 'You don't have friends?'

Charlotte ignored his question, knowing it would bring about a whole lot of personal junk she wasn't ready, and likely never would be, to share. Instead she stood up from her seated position, pointing her finger the same way he did.

'How is that fair anyway, your friend Sirius knows.' Charlotte watched as he rolled his eyes and shrugged as though she was being dramatic. Didn't he realise how rude it was to have a condition which only applied to one side of the party.

'He wouldn't tell anyone. Marauders code.'

Marauders code? Charlotte scrunched up her face and crossed her arms on her chest. 'What the hell is that? Some kind of colt?' In fact she had heard that word before. Marauder, that is.

He threw his head back and laughed loudly, similar to how Sirius laughed, yet softer. Sirius's laugh came out in barks, where's Potter's laugh was warm and made you smile. Warm enough apparently that it made her smile, a small one that was really only the tugging of the corner of her lips.

'No it's not a colt.' He said with a wide smile. 'Maybe I'll tell you one day, after you're an animagus.'

Charlotte harrumphed and turned away, not willing to trust his friend just because of some weird club promise.

'Whatever,' she mumbled. 'If he tells anyone, I'll make sure lily never looks twice at you.'

He seemed to take her words seriously because his eyes widened and he nodded frantically. Charlotte would never actually do that, but if Lily found out about their deal, it wouldn't matter what she told her, she likely wouldn't go near Potter after that. Angry at him for helping Charlotte in something illegal, likely thinking he was tainting her somehow, and infuriated with Charlotte for telling Potter anything about Lily.

'Hey Evans?' Potter asked.

'Ugh.' Charlotte instantly screwed up her face in disgusted and shuddered. 'Please don't call me that.'

It was bad enough that people called Lily, Evans, then again she never really seemed to mind. Charlotte however found it quite disagreeable to be called by her muggle last name. Slightly hypocritical considering she was a muggle born, but it was mainly because she hated being called by the same name as her darling perfect sister. She liked to think that they could at least be called different names, even if she was forever stuck in Lily's shadow.

'Uhh... What do I call you then?'

'How bout my first name genius.' Charlotte said with a roll of her eyes. 'If that's too hard for you, you can call me lottie. Just not around Lily though. She doesn't need a boost to her ego.'

He was clearly confused why calling Charlotte by a nickname would boost her sisters ego, but he apparently brushed it off, because he was smiling brightly and his eyebrows were raised.

'Well then _lottie,_ we'll start next tuesday.' She rolled her eyes at his dramatic use of her name and nodded her head.

'Sounds good Potter.'

Charlotte picked up the animagus book that had been sitting on the table, and put it in the bag she had hidden under her robes at her hip. Excitement bubbling at the thought of being able to read it finally, as well as having a practical tutor. Even if it was Potter.

'Shouldn't you call me something other than Potter then?' He asked as they both walked quietly towards the library door.

Charlotte shrugged and looked at him. He was only an inch or two taller than her, so she could easily meet his gaze without either of them craning their heads. A preferable change to when she spoke with lily, as she had never had to NOT hold her head lowered to look at her sister.

She hadn't exactly thought to call him anything other than Potter. Seeing as she had known him the past 6 years from the complaining she had received from her sister, she had always thought of him as Potter, as Lily apparently refused to call him James. Even Charlotte had to admit that it would be weird if she started calling him james when she had thought of him as Potter for far too long. James just seemed too… personal.

'Okay.' Charlotte's smile turned into a smirk as she leaned forward slightly. 'Jamesey.' His face scrunched up in disgust, similar to how she had not moments ago and she laughed loudly at his reaction.

Footsteps just outside the door made her breath hitch, but it was the hand pressed against her mouth that stopped her laughter. He had heard the noise before Charlotte and had stepped slightly behind her, wrapping his arm around her shoulder to cover her mouth with his hand.

Unnecessary and infuriating tingles crept up her arm nearby where he was touching her. Charlotte tapped lightly on his arm so he would know she wouldn't make anymore noise. She turned slightly to look at him, his brows were raised in question and she nodded her head. His hand slowly dropped and his arm unwrapped from around Charlotte. Thank Godric for nighttime and darkness, for in that moment, she was as red as currant rum.

They waited in silence until no more noises could be heart, and wordlessly slipped out of the library and walked silently to the Gryffindor common room. Charlotte had been peeking glances up at him the entire time, but he didn't seem to be at all fazed. Of course only she would react like that to such close contact, he was likely used to being that close to a girl. Charlotte quickly scrapped that thought, knowing it lead to dangerous and disturbing places.

Once they were safely inside the portrait, who Potter managed to convince not to tell their head of house, Charlotte heaved a sigh of relief and smiled when Potter did the same.

'So... Jamesey..' she said with a wink laughing as he groaned loudly, slumping on the lounge near the fireplace.

'That's not exactly what I meant when I said you didn't have to call me potter.' He said with a laugh.

'Well, well, well what do we have here?' a voice asked coming down the stairs from the boys dorms. 'Night time rondevu with Lily's sister, how interesting James.'

Sirius Black, not exactly the person she wanted to see after his manipulative coercion in charms class.

'Oh shove off padfoot.' Potter said with a laugh, sitting up on the lounge so he could see Sirius walk into the room. Charlotte rolled her eyes at his typical disheveled state, but paused mid role as she noticed the robe which barely wrapped around his naked chest. She coughed awkwardly and averted her eyes from his toned chest, thankfully neither boy realising her innocent reaction.

'Hello love,' Sirius said with a wink in Charlotte's direction as he slumped in the chair across from Potter, an uncomfortably attractive smirk fixed on her.

'Sirius,' she said with a nod of her head.

'So what were you two doing this late at night, with only each other as company?' he asked waggling his eyebrows suggestively. Charlotte sighed and shook her head. Sirius Black needed a crash course on social etiquette. Considering Charlotte's social life was dismal, or rather non existent, and she still knew that it was rather rude to be that suggestive to someone you barely knew, proved that Sirius was either ignorant or generally inappropriate.

'Yes... Well I'm off to bed.' Charlotte said with a fake smile ignoring Sirius's question, walking towards the girls staircase. She turned around to look at both Sirius and Potter and gave them a flirtatious smirk. 'Night boys.' She winked and took the stairs two at a time, blushing brightly at her sudden confidence.

'I think I prefer that Evans.' One of the two said with a quiet whistle, probably Sirius. Charlotte leaned against the stone staircase just within hearing range and smiled softly. That was probably the first time she have ever heard that. Then again she didn't exactly have a hell of a lot of friends that would choose her over Lily anyway.

'As long as you're not going after Lily, I don't mind if you 'prefer' her.' Charlotte cringed and slumped forward at the suggestive way Potter implied prefer. That hadn't exactly been what she hoped he meant by prefer. 'She agreed on certain… terms.'

'What terms prongs?'

'Nothing you have to worry about for the moment padfoot.'

Charlotte heard footsteps come her way and she darted up the staircase. Though there were two separate staircases, they would have likely been able to see her if she hadn't moved. Listening in on their conversation wasn't exactly a good way to begin their partnership.

She managed to sneak her way into her and Lily's bedroom without waking Lily up, which was a feat in of itself. Her four poster bed looked horribly inviting and she found herself barely taking the time to get dressed before slipping under her warm covers.

For the next hour she puzzled over the deal she has made. No, it hadn't been wise to accept Potter's help, even if it did bring about her animagus change faster. The last thing she needed was a complication in her messy life.

 _Yes_ , she thought. _Thats all James Potter seemed to be. A messy haired, hazel eyed impossibly attractive complication._


	4. Chapter 4

" ** _Arguing isn't communication, its noise."_**

 **Chapter Four:**

* * *

 **(~Charlotte~)**

'Looooottie,' Lily whispered in a sing song voice attracting only a fraction of her sister's attention from across the Gryffindor table. They had been sitting together for the past hour and Lily was in a constant battle for Charlotte's attention between her and a window on the far side of the room which for some reason was positively fascinating to Charlotte. 'Charlotte?'

Charlotte knew she was horribly distracted, she partially didn't care. Whether or not she had more important things to think about, the conversation Lily had been attempting to drag her into wasn't at all interesting. She didn't exactly care that so and so said something about her and him at the prefect meeting the other night. Lily was clearly grasping for straws attempting to make a conversation that would somewhat interest her, because Lily was no gossip.

Charlotte was currently analysing the first few pages of 'The dangers of Animagi and what to avoid.' So far the book had been so analytically complex that one page took an entire night to fully understand. Even when she understood what the page meant, it felt as though she had to decode every sentence. One of the first warnings had been, in the simplest form she could translate it, 'At no point should you ever experiment with any transfiguration magic without a comprehensive understanding of the abhorrent consequences of failure.'

That was where she had to pause and evaluate why she wanted to attempt magic which was so advanced and dangerous that they had a book on what to not do. There was no denying that it wasn't exactly useful magic. Unless you were in hiding or something similar, it was really only an interesting form of magic. Charlotte wanted to become an Animagus because she was fascinated with the magic behind the transfiguration. The implications that you turn into an animal which represents not only you, but a physical representation of you magic. Whether or not the magic was helpful to her, it was powerful and alluring, and she would learn it one way or another.

Its just overly unfortunate she needed help to do it.

'Hmm' Charlotte mumbled thoughtfully with her head slumped in the arm leaning against the table. She had run through the conversation she had with Potter many many times, each time regretting her deal more and more. She was obviously aware how much easier the process would be if she had someone with her to guide her in the right direction, however, she didn't trust Potter, and the fact that she had to go behind Lily's back made her all the more uncomfortable with her decision.

'CHARLOTTE!' Lilly cried slamming her hands on the table. The fork Charlotte had been holding halfway in between her plate and mouth dropped with a loud *thunk* onto her plate as she jumped in her seat.

'What? What!' Charlotte yelled, grabbing onto her wand at her hip. When she looked at lily who seemed not alarmed or worried, rather annoyed, she put her wand back with a begrudging sigh. 'Bloody hell woman what are you screaming about!'

Lily shot her an incredulous look and pushed her empty dinner plate away, folding her hands on the table. Charlotte rolled her eyes, knowing it was a sign that she was about to get a 'Lily scolding.'

'Charlotte I've been talking to a brick wall the last 20 minutes.' She said with a frown.

'I'd like to think I'm slightly better looking than a brick wall' Charlotte mumbled, picking up her fork again, moving around the pastry on her plate with an uninterested sigh.

'What's going on with you?' Lily asked, a worried looking frown deepening.

'What do you mean?' Charlotte said with a brow raised. 'Nothing's wrong, I'm just fine.'

She was generally fine. Perhaps she hadn't slept properly since she had gotten the book, and has been slightly wary of running into potter whenever she left her bedroom. Maybe she was also behind on her studies and was anxious most of the time that her place in class was dropping, other than that she was rather dandy.

Charlotte also had the expectant fear that at any moment a teacher would take her to the headmaster's office where she would be suspended or expelled for attempting to become an Animagus.

Charlotte's eyes drifted off of Lily again as she thought of what her parents would say to her if she ever got in that much trouble. Petunia would likely think it was hilarious and stick her overly large nose in the air, pointing out that she was a freak and didn't belong anywhere. Ugh, and she would have to go to a muggle school! Can you imagine the horror!

'HEY!' Lily yelled, snapping her fingers in front of Charlotte's face as her eyes snapped back on to Lily's. 'There you go, again!'

'What?' Charlotte asked dumbly, shrugging her shoulders. Her nonchalant answer obviously wasn't enough for lily because she was fixed with another hard stare, Lily's red brows lowering further down her forehead.

'You're always drifting off, your never paying attention to anything.' Lily said with an exasperated sigh to which Charlotte just rolled her eyes again. 'Outside of class and meals I've barely seen you!'

Lily had likely not seen Charlotte the last few days because whenever she had a break during the day, she would return to their dorm to sleep. Whenever classes were over, she would sit in her alcove near the courtyard reading her book and writing her interpretations down.

For Charlotte it had been a nice change, to not be glued to her sister's side all the time. However it just made Lily suspicious.

'I've been... busy?' Charlotte said with a wince, noticing rather too late that it had been more a question than statement. It wasn't a lie. Charlotte was busy. She just refused to tell lily what she was so busy with.

'Busy with what Charlotte?' Lily implored leaning further across the table as Charlotte moved back. 'Don't tell me homework, I know that homework comes easy to you, so what is it.'

Well actually homework doesn't come easy to Charlotte at all, but obviously her brilliant perfect sister wouldn't realise that. She may do all her homework and get just as good marks as Lily, but she worked damn hard to get them.

'Lily it's nothing, im fine.' Charlotte said with a sigh, regretting that she had sat with her sister for dinner at all. Honestly she had thought it would make lily stop asking if she was okay if she sat with her, but if anything she looked more suspicious.

'What's the book you've been reading,'

Charlotte sputtered and coughed on the phlegm that managed to lodge itself in her airways. It took her a few moments to find the ability to breath normally again as she asked, 'Pardon?'

Her voice was hoarse and crackly however if the red brow which raised on Lily's forehead was any indication, she had managed to hear her anyway. Lily surely couldn't possibly be talking about her Animagus book, there was no way.

'You're always carrying around that old brown book, and if your head isn't on your pillow it's in that book.'

Charlotte had no idea how she had noticed, she had hid her book as best she could, and never pulled it out when lily was around. She had to make the conclusion that Lily had either been spying on her or had gone through her stuff. AGAIN.

'I have no idea what you're talking about,' Charlotte said with a grunt, sending an angry look towards her sister.

'Why are you lying?' Lily asked with a raised brow and frown pursed tightly on her lips. Lily may be slightly oblivious to the feelings of others, but she had an uncomfortable knack for knowing exactly when Charlotte was lying or hiding something from her. It made anything and everything so much more difficult.

'Lily… I'm not lying okay, I've been doing some extra study lately.'

 _Not a lie._

'On what?'

Good Godric, Lily was a persistent little git. Charlotte knew she was suspicious, but she didn't really have any reason to be. Charlotte had been so careful. And it wasn't exactly the first time she had retreated often to solitude. What did Lily expect? That she would hang over her shoulder like a little puppy? Like Potter? Charlotte shuddered at the thought.

'Just some… ' Charlotte said thoughtfully, tapping the table with her fingers. 'Transfiguration.'

 _Again, not a lie._

'Transfiguration…. i wasn't aware we had any extra work for that.'

Why couldn't she just accept Charlotte didn't want to talk to her about this, or anything really. Of course she would want to know if there was extra credit work that could allow her to progress further. If Charlotte didn't know any better, she would almost suspect that Lily didn't like that she had a chance to better her marks.

'We don't, I've just been doing some seventh year stuff,'

 _Okay, partially a lie._

Technically seventh years did study Animagi, for a week or two according to Professor Mcgonagall, however it was not exactly the kind of studying she was currently doing. As it didn't involve actually trying to become an Animagus. 'I like transfiguration, and if i can learn some extra stuff and have a head start for after summer, i don't see why that's an issue.'

'Well i suppose not...' Lily said with a frown, likely wondering why she hadn't thought of it herself.

'Fantastic, can i get back to eating now?' Charlotte said impatiently, though she hadn't taken a single bit of her pie. In fact, now that she thought of it, she was rather hungry…

She began thinking deeply about what she had eaten for the last few days. In all honesty, she had barely taken a bite of any meal since her unfortunate meeting in the restricted section. She'd been too distracted and nervous to even think about food.

'Charlotte i-' Lily began, both brows furrowed and her mouth set into a deep frown.

'Hello my lovely Evan's twins.' Potter called loudly as he walked closer towards the two girls. He bowed slightly towards the two before clutching his robes near his chest dramatically, a star gazed look glittering behind his glasses. 'Lily you look ravishing tonight.'

'Ravishing?!' Charlotte murmured with a laugh, using her hands to cover her wide smile as her sister turned from Potter for a moment to stare at her with a heated gaze. Charlotte could handle Lily when she was annoyed, curious or suspicious. But when Lily Evans was angry… well. Let's say you avoid infuriating her even more. James Potter obviously wasn't aware of this yet.

'Potter, leave before i hex you.' Lily seethed returning her glare towards Potter who simply winked in response.

That boy was going to be murdered by the girl he fancies, really it was rather poetic. Perhaps Charlotte could earn a few sickles writing about it. Then again, Lily would likely kill her as well.

'That's a tad harsh,' Potter said with a smirk, ignoring her anger and plopping down on the bench next to her, flinging his canvas back onto the table carelessly, knocking down several plates of food. 'i can't exactly help it if your beauty attracted me from across the great hall.'

'Oh good Godric.' Charlotte murmured watching as Lily began to pull out her wand from her robe pocket. She quickly leant over and grabbed her sister's arm before she could completely remove it, doing something she would likely regret at a later date. She smiled brightly and somewhat falsely towards the infuriating boy across from her. 'Potter, can we help you with something?'

'Well, i did come over here to let you both know there will be a party for my good friend Remus in two nights.' He said cheerily, turning a flirtatious smile towards Lily. 'Lily i hope you will consider attending.'

Charlotte almost sighed at the look he gave Lily. Almost.

His mouth was set in a smirk, not overly cocky or obnoxious the way Sirius had smirked at her, but rather more playful. How exactly was Lily not interested in this boy? As far as Charlotte knew, he was smart, funny, loyal and kind...ish. And an obvious plus, he was good looking. So far Charlotte couldn't exactly find the fault that should withhold her sister from at least going to Hogsmeade with him. Apart from the creepy way he managed to find her all the time.

No really, he ALWAYS seemed to know where Lily was at every moment of every day. Charlotte had heard Lily rant about it enough to wonder herself how exactly Potter seemed to find her. Of course he could just ask the paintings, but she had a distinct feeling that after all the paintings became miraculously mixed up in their 4th year, the occupants stuck in each others frames, they wouldn't help him at all. Though it had never been discovered who had charmed the many frames throughout the magical staircase, Charlotte had always suspected either Sirius or Potter. Then again, she suspected the two whenever anything weird or remotely bad happened to the school.

'Potter if i do come, it will be for Remus, not for you.' Lily snapped, removing her gaze from Potter and instead studying her water which had turned rather interesting. Apparently.

'Fantastic!' He said loudly with a wide smile, obviously not catching on the point Lily had tried to make. He gave Charlotte, who had been watching the entire interaction with an amused expression, and expectant smile, asking, 'How about you Charlotte?'

'Well i-' Charlotte began with a small smile, grateful that they were at least not bickering anymore in front of her, though it was amusing, it also reminded her that she would be telling Potter things about her sister that she really shouldn't, effectively making her feel more awkward than anything.

She was about to make up an excuse for not going, as she likely wouldn't be, seeing as she had never spoken a word to Remus Lupin, and it would be rather strange to turn up to his party, as well as she had no interest of being in a room full of people who didn't and wouldn't want to know her, however Lily stopped her mid sentence.

'Won't be attending' she said in a stern voice, looking straight at Charlotte. Charlotte's mouth gaped open slightly as she stared, startled at her sister's audacity.

'Excuse me?' Charlotte breathed, both a mixture of shock and anger. She looked from Lily to Potter, finding he looked as confused as she felt.

'Charlotte you're not going'

'Thank you _mum_ , but if i want to go to a bloody party, i don't need your permission.' Charlotte snapped, even if she didn't want to go, Lily had no right to tell her what she could and could not do. Just the fact that she had spoken for Charlotte made her annoyed enough at her twin.

'Well unless you want me telling mum and dad about the other morning i believe you do...' Lily trailed off raising both her brows daringly.

'YOU WOULDN'T!' Charlotte cried, slamming her hands on the table. Lily was actually suggesting she would tell their parents that she had gotten drunk the other night, enough that she had a hangover in the morning. Lily knew what this meant, which is why is shocked Charlotte so much that she would dare threaten it.

Their parents had warned Charlotte that if they received any news that she began drinking again, they would pull her from Hogwarts. Permanently. At first Charlotte thought they were joking, just saying that so that she would pull her head in. Then they contacted the school to inform them to keep an eye on her. If Charlotte got pulled from Hogwarts, she would concede that her life was over. She would NOT go to a muggle school and learn about muggle things, even if she was muggleborn, and she would refuse to get a muggle job.

'Charlotte, it's not a good idea.' Lily said softly, attempting to soothe her sisters obvious distress at her threat.

'Why bloody not!' She yelled louder. Charlotte wasn't one for being controlled. The fact that it was Lily who was trying to control her, Charlotte's perfect twin, just made the situation worse.

Charlotte refused to let Lily make choices for herself, even if she had no interest in going in the first place. She believed everyone had a right to their own opinion and choices. If Charlotte wanted to go to a party, whether or not Lily deemed it as a bad idea, it would be her choice. If Lily was somehow proven correct, and Charlotte truly shouldn't have gone, well, she would accept the consequences.

'Because, correct me if I'm wrong potter,' She said, throwing a glance at a stunned Potter whose mouth was gaped open in shock, most likely that Lily was addressing him without any warnings of physical damage and that Lily was in an argument. Lily Evans never argues. She discusses, but never raises her voice. This was a rare sight indeed. 'There will be alcohol.'

'Oh for FU-' Charlotte began throwing her hands in the air. Charlotte wasn't always one for profanity, but considering the circumstances, she didn't bother to restrain it this time.

'Why is that a problem exactly?' Potter asked, speaking through her curse with an amused expression, earning a glare from Charlotte who most certainly wasn't amused. Charlotte was even more troubled by the warm feeling that instantly rose in her stomach when he smiled at her like that.

'Language Charlotte.' Charlotte sent Lily a glare that visibly made her shrink slightly in her seat. If there was one thing Charlotte and Lily had in common, it was the ability to make anyone, anyone, uncomfortable with a stare.

'I thought you turned of age back in January?' He asked.

'We did.' Charlotte said through gritted teeth looking only at her sister who seemed oblivious to Charlotte's confusion and annoyance

'Charlotte, do you really want to talk about this here?' Lily asked with a raised brow, both arms crossed on the wooden table. She had spoken slowly, as though talking to a small child who couldn't fully understand the english language, and it made Charlotte furious. Even more so because Lily knew exactly how much it frustrated Charlotte when she spoke to her like that.

'Talk about what!' Charlotte cried, flinging her arms in the air in annoyance, barely missing the tower of sandwiches sitting on stacked trays in the centre of the table. The table may be large, but Charlotte was leant over almost half its width.

'You know exactly why it's a bad idea to go.'

'Okay lily.' Charlotte said with a sarcastic smile, falling back in her seat so she wasn't at risk of falling into a pot of soup. 'For a few moments i'm going to pretend i know exactly what you're talking about, what gives you the right to decide what's best for me?'

'I'm your sister!' She said incredulously with with a scoff that made Charlotte's blood boil.

'umm.. girls?' Potter asked hesitantly an awkward smile on his face. Any other moment than this, Charlotte likely would have stared at the smile on his face, which in all rights was adorable. However she, at this moment, had the intense urge to pull out her wand and point it at her sister. Potter's interruption was currently annoying them both. The twins turned to face him and managed to yell at him in unison, surprising all three of them. 'Shut it Potter!'

'Okay.. ill just sit here then.' He said quietly, nibbling on a piece of bread as he watched the two teenagers seething at each other in anger.

'Lily, i don't care if you're the bloody minister for magic, no one decides what to do in my life but me,' Charlotte stood up from the table and pointed at her sister half wishing it was her wand she had pointed and not a useless finger. 'not mom, not dad, and definitely not you!.'

Charlotte had a much quicker temper than her sister, and somehow, Lily always managed to be the one who set her off. When they were children, and even now on the precipice of adulthood, Lily somehow managed to infuriate her to the point of verbal explosion.

'Bloody hell Charlotte! we are just trying to care for you!'

'Oh screw off Lily, get your bloody big head out of your ass!,' Charlotte snarled flinging her arm at her goblet of pumpkin juice, which swung in the air before spilling across the floor several feet away. Charlotte wanted to do a lot more than angrily throw away her drink. She, however, didn't need a detention or suspension against her. She may be infuriated, but she was smart enough to know that pulling her wand out in the great hall during dinner time was a sure way for the both of them to get into trouble. She did NOT need Lily angry at her for getting her into trouble, this fight was nothing compared to how angry she would be then.

'This is you being controlling not caring!' Lily's brows instantly rose up her forehead as she gasped.

'How dare you!' She yelled standing up from the bench and leaning over it just as Charlotte was, her hands gripped tightly on the edge of the table

'can i just ask-'

'NO!' Lily snapped, turning her head slightly so she could glare at Potter who instantly shut his mouth and turned his wide gaze somewhere across the room, signaling a shrug. Charlotte was curious as to who he was shrugging to and what it meant, but she had the current situation of a raging twin who was slowly turning as red as her hair. Never a good sign for Lily Evans.

'Lily i don't care if you tell mum that i was hungover the other morning, half of the bloody school was hungover!' Charlotte seethed, careful to not say it too loudly, considering there were teachers in the great hall. 'I will not let you dictate my life, and i swear to Salazar, if you try you'll bloody regret it!'

'Charlotte..' Lily said with a sigh, looking positively defeated and rather upset as she slumped back into the bench. Charlotte and Lily always argued, but it was generally debating a topic. Never before had they had a fight like this, and both knew it would be as easily fixable as their other arguments.

'No Lily.'Charlotte said with a shake of her head, grabbing her leather satchel from beside her and jumping out of the bench using the strength in one arm, essentially flinging both legs out in one fluid movement. Before she turned to storm off, she gave one last furious look at her sister and turned slightly to face Potter.

He looked shocked, upset and worried. It almost made her feel bad. Then again, he was likely just worried how upset Lily looked. She didn't have the capacity to feel bad for him or Lily at the moment.

'Was nice to see you Potter.' She said with a smile which was definitely more a grimace than anything.

She stormed out of the great hall, not noticing that the entire room had been quiet and students from all houses and classes as well as the professors at the front of the room watched her stalk off.

All the students who had been enjoying their meal couldn't possibly find any reason that someone would explode at Lily Evans like that. In fact, most had never seen Lily involved in an argument which was so heated it had silenced the entire room. Unfortunately for the two girls, the entire school had heard almost every word, and they sat stunned upon the discovery that the Gryffindor prefect and likely candidate for head girl in her seventh year had a sister.

However stunned and shocked, they would likely forget this information within a day or two. After all, the other girl Lily Evans had been yelling at wasn't anywhere near as interesting as Lily herself.

Charlotte managed to make her way out of the great hall and through to the entrance hall in spectacular time. Likely due to the fact that as soon as the great hall doors had swung shut, she had walked a speed she didn't even know possible. She didn't know where she was going, but she was still shaking with anger at Lily's audacity.

 _How dare she!_

 _Who Does she think she is!_

 _Why, she's Lily Evans of course. The perfect Daughter, Witch and Person in the universe. How painful it must be to have a twin that is adept at nothing and boring in comparison._

'Charlotte, wait!' Potter called, running out and skidding to a stop, meeting her in the hallway. She sighed deeply. She was still angry, but the sight of Potter both annoyed her and made her feel rather relieved. Likely due to the fact she had never had someone to come see if she was alright other than Lily. Considering she was fighting with Lily, the likelihood of her coming out to comfort her was unlikely.

'Yes potter?' Charlotte asked, turning to meet him. He was flushed in the face and his robes danced as his run turned to a stop and by some means, his hair was far beyond its usual messiness. It was impractically sitting in front of his glasses in tumbles of dark knots that not even an unknotting charm could tame. Charlotte found herself, somehow, wanting to laugh at his current state of dishevelment. How was it that someone could lose all order in their appearance from running only a few metres.

'Are we still on tomorrow night?' He asked, swiping a hand through his hair so the thick tresses sat on top of his head instead of in front. She raised a confused brow wondering what on earth he was talking about. Had he not run out to see if she was okay, seeing as she and Lily just had a rather violent and public fight?

Apparently, he had seen her confusion as he took a step forward to specify. 'You know our… deal?' He leaned forward slightly to whisper the last bit, and Charlotte closed her eyes in annoyance.

Of course he hadn't run out of the great hall to check if you are okay Charlotte, what a stupid thing to assume. He is interested in your sister and doesn't give a goblins piss about you. This is exactly why Charlotte avoided any and all those who were friends with Lily. It mixed her up in all sorts of nonsense she had no wish to be in. Like caring.

'Of course.' Charlotte said with a sigh, forcing her face into a smile which honestly made her look constipated. She dropped the smile, knowing it was as fake as anything anyway.

'Fantastic.' He said with a wide smile, oblivious to the hurt displayed on her face. 'You don't mind if Sirius drops in do you?'

Oh Godric, he was joking right? What she needed least in that moment was an eccentric drama queen who attempted to emotionally blackmail her into helping Potter. Besides, she was incredibly uncomfortable with his perverted forwardness and his presence made her both awkward and annoyed. He was also far too attractive for his own good, he bloody knew it as well.

'If I said I did, would it matter?' She asked sarcastically. Charlotte was finally feeling the weight of the past few days, and it hit her like a bloody crucio. She was exhausted beyond belief, her brain practically imploding from intake of too much information. Her deal with potter was already causing her enough grief, but now the fight with Lily made her want to sleep until she was 100, and then some more. She also had several rolls of parchment sitting on her bed which are meant to be filled with writing. She chose to forget about that for the moment however. Though homework wasn't as easy for her as Lily thought, she could get a passable mark if she did them tonight with little effort involved.,

'Well yes, I would tell him not to come.' Potter said with a small frown. He seemed confused by her answer. Really she just wanted to be alone. Perhaps if he had come out of the great hall as a friend, instead of Lily's hopeful conquest, she would happily talk to him, no sarcasm or pessimism involved.

'I don't mind, just tell him to keep his thoughts to himself.' She said eventually with a sigh, gripping onto the bridge of her nose. She was getting a headache, and had no interest in going to the Hospital wing for a potion. Their potions always managed to make her feel nauseous.

'I can tell him, though it may not help.' He said with a wistful smile, knowing as well as she did, that he wouldn't.

'Likely' Charlotte muttered, scuffing her shoe against the ground. From the damage on the toe side of her shoes, you could tell it was a habit of hers.

Potter didn't say anything for awhile, so Charlotte turned to leave. She was iffed that he had come to talk about lily, just after they had had a fight. She knew Potter wasn't stupid, so he was apparently extremely oblivious.

'Hey Charlotte ?' He asked in a small voice, his hand resting on her shoulder. She stilled instantly and turned back slightly. Even as she turned, his hand remained on her shoulder, encompassing it with a warmth that she both needed and didn't want. She could handle helping him with Lily. She could accept his help with becoming an Animagus. She could accept the idea of one day becoming his friend, she even welcomed it. But she could not, would not, ever appreciate the feeling she had now with his hand on her shoulder.

How could Charlotte enjoy such a unimportant and non-affectionate action. How could the warmth in her stomach rise so far as to blaze through and light her cheeks. Why was it that she suddenly felt safe and content. It was confusing and annoying. Enough so that she shrugged his hand off with a movement of her shoulder, refusing to meet his gaze which was no doubt confused at her unsociable action.

'Hm?' She mumbled, rubbing at her forehead where a faint pressure behind her eyes had begun to grow into a headache. This was all too much too soon. Only a week ago, Lily was the only person she spoke to everyday. Not that she enjoyed that arrangement, but it was what it was. Now she felt awkward in everyone else's presence.

'Are you alright?'

Charlotte looked up to meet his hazel eyes, and was shocked to find, he genuinely looked concerned for her.

'Not really.' she said honestly, frowning. Why was he making things so confusing. She had been annoyed at him for not caring, now he chose to ask if she was okay?

'Anything i can help with?'

'Definitely not.' Charlotte said with a scoff of laughter. It was bad enough that she was having a fight with Lily. Involving Potter in the mix was just a disaster waiting to happen. 'But thank you.' she added with a small smile.

He just stood there, watching her. He clearly didn't believe that there was nothing he could do, and he was seemingly honestly concerned about her, which was touching and infuriating. It would be much easier in this moment if he just walked away.

But he wasn't walking away. He was just standing there staring at her. His brows were furrowed and his mouth set into a deep frown that made him look far older than he should.

Charlotte turned away and walked off, having been stared at enough for one night. He didn't call out to her, or grab her shoulder again. She didn't have to look back to know he was still watching her, she could feel his gaze burning through the back of her head.

It was only a small walk from the great hall to the Gryffindor common room, yet Charlotte found every moment was taken up by thoughts of her sister. Lily was an amazing witch, there was no doubt. It went far beyond her magical capabilities. She was articulate, essentially kind in most situations, smart beyond belief and outwardly beautiful. Charlotte didn't doubt potter's sincerity for his feelings towards Lily. Really, who couldn't love Lily Evans.

She knew Lily had seemed too casual about finding out she was drinking again. This was Lily Evans she was talking about, she had a way of putting herself directly in the middle of everyone's troubles. Most wouldn't complain because, well, it's bloody Lily evans! Every boy in school wanted to date her, par the Slytherin pureblooded prats who wouldn't dare step a metre near a 'Mudblood', and every girl was either envious of her vixen red hair and allure which had everyone wrapped around her pinky, or wanted to be her best friend.

What really annoyed Charlotte, was how oblivious Lily was. Almost to the point where she was sure that Lily knew exactly what she was doing. She would give a simple smile to the boys making them instant putty in her tiny delicate hand, or a complement to the girls, so they liked her. Even teachers couldn't deny how much they liked her. She was a brilliant witch and talented in all her classes, even the ones she didn't like, like divernation. Getting top marks in all her subjects meant she was almost the only running shot for head girl. Almost.

If Charlotte wasn't such a wallflower, she could most likely contend her sister for the spot of head girl. As it stood, most teachers were too focused on Lily to see Charlotte's potential. No matter how high her marks, Lily seemed to to level her. Even when she did overtake her sister, which didn't exactly happen often, no one seemed to really care.

Charlotte would never admit that she had an old shoe box filled with the essays and tests she bested her sister. She likely saw how ridiculous and obsessive it was. Probably just as bad as Potter's obsession with Lily.

And with that uncomfortable thought, she retreated to her stone alcove, deciding not to join her fellow lions, even if she would go to her room anyway. It was a simple arch in the courtyard hidden by a alcove of trees which made it a perfect solitary retreat. She wasn't exactly hidden. If you were walking down the corridor on your way to potions or the Slytherin dungeon, you would be able to see a student with their hogwarts robes on, lying in an archway, but it was inconspicuous. Students and teachers were either too oblivious or uninterested to notice her hideaway, so she claimed it as her own in her third year. If she knew any repellent spells, she would likely cast them on the spot so no other individual could sit there, but she didn't, and she would likely get into trouble anyway. Charlotte couldn't exactly OWN a few bricks.

None the less, she found herself coming to the spot whenever she could escape from her classes, and out of the watchful eyes of her sister. Curled up, so her legs were elevated slightly in the air, and her head was resting comfortably against the stone, she had an all too perfect view of the Hogwarts grounds. Sometimes, she found herself simply staring out at the landscape, as she was doing in that moment. It was too hard not to appreciate the view.

Hogwarts was her home, and she loved it. She loved the bricked corridors and the talking paintings. She loved the ghosts which kept every meal interesting. She loved learning and practising magic without the fear of being called a 'freak'. She loved the feeling that she was a part of something, even if it was miniscule in comparison to her sister.

This view of the grounds, students walking through the courtyard, teachers bustling about with stacks of books floating behind them were more comforting in that moment than a draught of peace.

Any anger, anxiety or frustration she had towards her sister slipped away with one long and deep sigh. Sure, she was still incredibly pissed at Lily. She had no right to say she couldn't go to the party, but Charlotte knew she did it because she cared. Charlotte just wished she would care less. She was also still confused about Potter but she didn't want to think about it. She had enough on her plate to know that confusing thoughts about a boy who likely loved her sister, were stupid, insignificant and should be extinguished at all costs.

Besides, she should be thinking about other things. Like the meeting she would be having tomorrow night, Remus Lupins party that she may or may not be going to and the homework that's due tomorrow that she had not started.

'My life is so exciting,' Charlotte muttered as she pushed herself from her archway in the direction of the Gryffindor common room, mentally preparing to have a long night of homework and likely, once again, no sleep.

 _Who needs sleep anyway._


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary:**

 **There were many reasons Charlotte was the way she was. Mainly it was her 40 minute older sister Lily Evans. Lily was gorgeous, intelligent, witty and charming. Charlotte was sort of pretty; smart when she tried hard enough, highly sarcastic and unsociable. Charlotte was also virtually invisible behind her sister's stunning shadow. Every year she was in the same classes as her sister, and every year she found herself friendless and slightly more narcissistic than the year earlier. Well, it's their sixth year and Charlotte had long since given up the complexities of friendship in favour of interesting sorts of magic she wondered upon in the restricted section of the school library( and an alcohol habit she had yet to kick). That's where a desperate and ever charming James Potter comes in. Potter obviously doesn't understand the word 'Never' as he continues to try and win over Lily. Seemingly as a last resort, he corners Charlotte and begs her to help him. Not being one to give others false hope, she tells him to shove it where even** ** _lumos_** **doesn't shine. However a fateful meeting in a darkened library reveals that Potter and Charlotte may have more in common that Charlotte had ever hoped. They fortify a deal which is beneficial to both parties, with one main rule. DO NOT TELL LILY.**

 **Chapter Five– Privately Protesting his Persistent Prodding. **

Lily had been avoiding Charlotte all morning. She had even gone so far as to wake up earlier and leave their shared dorm before Charlotte had gotten out of bed, not giving her a single passing glance, storming out of their dorm, her bag swinging determinedly on her shoulder.

Charlotte could say she didn't care, that she hardly noticed her sisters dismissal and unsociable behavior, but considering Lily was virtually the only person she spoke to most days, It was obvious to the both of them that Charlotte was a little peeved. She couldn't understand why it was Lily who was avoiding Charlotte like she hadn't done anything wrong. It was Lily who stepped out of bounds and embarrassed her in front of Potter and the whole bloody school.

As it turns out, their discussion wasn't as private as Charlotte had hoped, and she managed to hear several other Gryffindors discussing what on earth Lily Evans could be fighting about with 'that girl'. Really it was as though they had forgotten that Lily fought with Potter on a regular basis, almost every morning evening and night. Or rather they became accustomed to the two arguing, so they simply passed it off as normal. Either way, it was rather infuriating that what both she and Lily had blurted was not only knowledgeable to a certain potter, but also half of the school.

Because she really needed half the school to wonder what the strange girl with incredibly messy hair was talking with both Lily Evans and James potter, practically the two most well known students. They were virtually superstars, and it was honestly rather pathetic to see the way both boys and girls watched the two.

She had avoided the great hall altogether that morning, taking a walk of the ground, and apple in hand and her wand twirling in the other, another habit of hers. It was only 7:30 in the morning, so the air was still relatively crisp, and fog covered the greater levels of the school. However as the sun began to rise, the view became undeniably exquisite.

She could have spent the entire morning and afternoon walking on the dew covered grass watching the change of colour and movement of the sky, however she had her classes to attend to. No matter how much she wanted to avoid Lily, and potter, she couldn't justify skipping classes because of it. She would not take part in such deplorable behavior.

Charlotte stared lazily at her potions professor as he told the classroom the frightful tale of the minister for magic who died after eating a Alihotsy flavored fudge. They had already been in the potions classroom for half an hour, and Charlotte was not the only student who was losing the ability to focus, and stay awake and attentive. Though this was a usual occurrence in Professor Slughorn's classroom.

He was currently standing at the front of the room with a hand resting on his rotund belly, laughing loudly, despite the rather dreary topic.

"Though it was delicious, surprising considering the Hyena tree has a rather pungent fume, she died only moments after taking her first bite. What a way to go..." The professor stared off slightly and began rubbing his stomach thoughtfully.

"Sir," Charlotte called out from the back of the potions classroom her hand raised in the air. All eyes turned from Slughorn to her and she pulled it down slowly, uncomfortable with the sudden attention, yet too late to take it back.

"Yes, miss..." He drawled off in thought, his brows furrowing, likely realizing he had no idea who the student that had addressed him was. "Sorry my dear, i don't believe i was informed we had a new student."

Charlotte sighed and hung her head slightly, someone had seen the action as a soft chuckle was emitted from the center of the room. She tilted her head up slightly and realised with a frown it was Sirius Black. Well at least someone found humor in her situation, even if it was the irritating boy.

He was sitting beside potter several benches in front of Charlotte, and the both of them had found their teachers statement funny, however Sirius was the only one who made it known. Potter couldn't know, but Charlotte could see his smirk from where she was sitting up the back. Charlotte couldn't understand what was so funny about your teacher not knowing who you are. In fact she had no idea why they found it so funny at all. Only days ago neither of them had likely not known that she even existed.

Her eyes drifted to the table in front of the pair of annoying boys to Lily's table. She sat with Alice Longbottom and both girls had not turned from their chairs to look back as everyone else had.

"Evans sir, and i'm not new" Charlotte said shortly, attempting to pass over the fact that her potions teacher couldn't remember her bloody name... and that she was Lily's sister. It was no secret Lily was his favorite student, and Charlotte had no want or need to be associated with her sister when it came to Professor Slughorn. The man practically idolized her for Godric's sake.

"I was just wondering, not that the story wasn't interesting, what it had to do with… anything?"

Laughter bubbled throughout the room at her backhanded comment, no doubt many of the students having similar thoughts to Charlotte. They may be used to their teacher rambling on about nonsense, it didn't, however, make it any less aggravating. He was a good potions professor, just wasted far too much time sharing stories and, in Charlotte's opinion, complimenting Lily on her potions work.

"Ah of course! Today, we shall be making Alihotsy draught, a very strong potion which causes hysteria in its consumer, partner up and collect your ingredients. You have till the end of the lesson to make the perfect draught. You will be marked on this!"

Charlotte moved quickly to collect her ingredients, arriving in the store room before the class had even thought to get out of their seats, and sitting back at her bench just as they had left theirs. She was used to working alone, and surprisingly, enjoyed it. She was almost always able to finish her work earlier as she had better concentration and determination when she was alone.

The fair few times Lily had joined her in potions had never ended well. Lily, being the attention hog she was, ordered Charlotte around like she hadn't an idea about what she was doing, even though she was very aware Charlotte was second in the class to Lily herself. To put it bluntly, never had a potion gone so wrong as when Lily and Charlotte worked together. From then on, Lily sat half the classroom away, a welcoming change for Charlotte.

Charlotte opened her potions book to the page on Alihotsy and began readying. Not overly complex, yet it took a great amount of precision and good timing, not unlike most potions. She hadn't finished half a page when a voice annoyingly pulled her from her concentration.

"Morning love." Sirius drooled with a lazy smirk, sliding into the stool next to her so they were sitting side by side. Charlotte shifted slightly at the uncomfortable feeling of their arms pressed against each other, moving her chair to the left so they were at least a foot apart.

He was either completely unaware of how close he had been sitting to her, or did it on purpose to unnerve her. Considering he was watching her with a brow raised and a humoured smirk on his face, it was fair to say that he did it on purpose.

"Hello Sirius," Charlotte said with an uninterested sigh and monotone voice. At least that's what she hoped it sounded like. She couldn't exactly give him what he wanted, which was likely to embarrass her by making her blush.

She knew enough about Sirius black to know he had no female friends. He had 'friends' but not the kind that Charlotte would ever consider being or even thinking about. So he was here to blackmail her again. It's the only option that made sense considering he obviously wasn't interested in having her as a friend

Charlotte assessed his casual demeanour and untidy hair with a frown, eventually asking with a sigh. "Something I can help you with?"

"Well now that you mention it..." He whispered, waggling his eyebrows suggestively and leaning forward so the space between them became nonexistent. Trying to act as uninterested as possible, she stared at him for a few moments her face blank. Eventually his smirk did fall slightly and he looked positively confused.

Sirius was only an inch away and their noses were almost touching. Charlotte's heart was beating erratically, never being so close to a boy before. She kept the bored stare on her face, even as he leant back slightly in confusion. Inside she was waging a battle between blushing profusely, shoving him away from her and pulling him closer. The last option made her screw up her face in disgust as she shook the thought away. She hadn't, didn't and never would want anything to do with Sirius Black like that. Merlin knows he was practically dating half the girls in sixth year.

Sirius had obviously seen her revolted reaction as he looked even more confused and a little affronted. His brows were furrowed and his mouth was slightly gaped open as he stared at her. You would think he could paint an artwork by how long he stared at her, yet she still managed the facade of indifference.

"Forget I asked." Charlotte muttered, turning back to the book. Silently she felt triumphant. She had been a breath away from him and didn't lose her cool.

For whatever reason, more and more she had begun to notice certain aspects of the male population at Hogwarts that she deemed attractive, even when she attempted to ignore it as she just had. It was getting harder and harder not to notice. In fact, just that morning she had been sitting at the Gryffindor table mindlessly stirring her vomit inducing breakfast and caught the eye of a seventh year Ravenclaw. She hadn't the faintest idea who he was, but he practically had her blushing at the smile he sent her way.

Sirius and James were likely the easiest on the eyes, though a few Slytherin boys were also rather good looking. It wasn't helpful at all that all the boys knew how good looking they were. Merlin knew they were all arrogant enough as is.

"If you say so." Sirius said with a dazed, confused expression. She turned back to the textbook and pretended to read. It wasn't exactly easy considering a tall handsome boy was staring her down like she was a puzzle only he could solve. "So, 'partner', am i cutting or are you?"

"You cut, i'll brew." She said pointedly, moving from the chair to hand him the knife and ingredients which he took and set up rather orderly. She was utterly surprised that he seemed to know what he was doing. She refused to show it, because it was kind of rude to assume he wouldn't know what to do. He began measuring out ingredients efficiently with great care. Separating the plants from the liquid ingredients and preparing the roots to chop.

"I like a girl who knows what she wants." Sirius said with a smirk, winking at Charlotte who refused to look anything other than annoyed at his behaviour.

"Oh shut up Sirius and cut the bloody Alihotsy".

For awhile not a word was spoken between the two. Sirius cut the ingredients in order at a relatively fast rate, and she began creating the potion. Considering how she was used to being alone, it surprised her how easily she worked with him. They made small comments on what either of them were doing, but other than that, they had done almost half the potion already.

"James told me about your deal." Sirius stated after a few moments of cutting up the flitterby moths, putting down the knife and sitting sideways on the stool so he gave Charlotte his full attention.

"Oh?" She asked distractedly, stirring the potion and reading their textbook extensively. Thats what it looked like at least. She was insanely curious as to what he told Sirius, how much he knew about wanting to become an Animagus. He likely already knew Potter was an Animagus, after all they were virtually _incarceroused_ together. If she hadn't been so sure that Sirius had so many 'friends' and Potter fancied her sister, she'd likely think they themselves were more than friends.

"Yeah, and I just wanted to let you know I'll drop in every now and then during your 'arranged meetings' ''

"And why is that exactly? Unless you have a keen insight on either my sister, which i doubt, or.." She leaned a little closer to the right so that their shoulders were touching so she could whisper the rest. He obviously hadn't expected this action, as his brows shot up, which she just rolled her eyes at. "...being an Animagus, I don't see how your presence would benefit anyone."

"I'm going to pretend that didn't hurt my feelings love," He answered with a pout, forcing her to sit back in her seat and roll her eyes. ''I do know a little on what you're trying to do, not as much as James, but enough to be helpful."

"Well I suppose it couldn't hurt to have your help then" She muttered thoughtfully. Honestly she'd rather only Potter know, but if Sirius truly did know a little, it wasn't so bad. However she was not looking forward to when she finally began to change into her Animagi form. Perhaps she could find a way to get rid of the both of them before that happened.

"You don't have to make it sound like a burden." Sirius said dryly

"Believe me, I'm trying really hard not to." She remarked with a smirk, to which he just rolled his eyes in a similar fashion to how she did, not moments ago.

"By the way are you coming tomorrow night?" Her brow rose in confusion, forcing him to clarify."... to Remus's party."

"Well, I'm not really sure; I don't generally go to parties." She said with a shrug, noticing he was looking at her sceptically. It irked her that he was asking this. Had Potter put him up to it? Why was he acting so interested?

"Really, like never?"

"Not once."

"Not even the Quidditch parties?"

"Nope." She said with a sigh, popping the p loudly.

"Wow..." Sirius whispered with a low whistle, genuinely stunned. He seemed to be looking at Charlotte critically and she fought against his gaze, not used to being looked at so intensely. She shuffled nervously in her seat as he watched her, and absently scuffed her shoe against the foot of the potions desk. "Is there a particular reason why?"

Was he an idiot?

"Uhh well generally... I'm not notified, not invited or not wanted." She answered attempting to look as indifferent as possible. He was still watching her quizzically, dubious of her answer. "Believe it or not, you're the first person I've spoken to today, other than Slughorn of course."

"Your serious?"

'No I'm Charlotte.' She said in mock sincerity.

'Oh har har.' Sirius said with a sarcastic laugh rolling his storm eyes and shaking his head. It was a horrid joke, Charlotte couldn't help but grin widely and Sirius even gave her a half smile in response. "You've been waiting to say that haven't you?"

"Possibly," Charlotte replied with a cheesy grin that she honestly couldn't help.

"Be honest though, why am I the first person you've spoken to?"

"Maybe because I don't like people." She answered with an uninterested shrug. Charlotte had no interest in sharing that she had no friends other than her sister. It was embarrassing enough that Potter was slightly aware of the situation, she didn't need another arrogant idiot knowing as well.

"That's possible, but unlikely; you seem to be talking to me just fine." He remarked smoothly nudging her with his shoulder.

Honestly, Charlotte almost toppled off her stool from the force he bumped her with. Considering it was such a small movement, he likely didn't mean to do it, you would think someone could control their body enough to know how much force to use when you nudged someone.

If it had been someone else, possibly a stranger, she likely would have pushed him back in the hopes that he would land on his ass. However, he had been making an attempt to be friendly with her, and it was more than others had, so instead of roughly shoving him back, she worked on pretending she hadn't almost fallen off the chair by shuffling in her seat.

"Well you're rather easy to talk to when you're not being an obnoxious asshole," Charlotte grumbled, frustration leaking through each word. The cause likely going unnoticed by the boy next to her, considering he just tugged up the corner of his mouth and winked at her.

"Why thank you kind lady, your charm is ever flowing."

"Uh huh." She drooled rolling her eyes with a loud sigh that had him laughing.

"You going to answer my question?" Sirius implored, a brow raised as he tucked his chin in one hand that was rested on the bench before them.

"Will you stop pestering me if I do? Believe it or not, we do have to finish this potion...Today."

Not that she really had anything to worry about, even with her slight decrease in dedication to her studied lately; she was still second in her class.

"Love, you know as well as I do that we are virtually done." Charlotte hadn't actually known this; she had been distracted from reading the rest of the instructions. A soft blush rose on her cheeks in embarrassment, not that she would ever admit she was wrong to him of course.

"But yes, I will stop 'pestering you'."

For the life of her, Charlotte couldn't work out why Sirius was so curious. Was it not plainly obvious that she was a social outcast and pariah in their school?

"Okay, well I guess it's because I don't have anyone to talk to."

 _Just leave it at that, please for the love of the founders and Merlin's great beard, just drop it_. _Understand my hint, possibly the tone in which I am speaking or my body language both suggesting I have no wish to discuss this with you!_

"You have no friends?"

"Yes Sirius, i have no friends," she repeated with a sigh, bowing her head to hide her annoyance. Sirius bloody black would be the death of her. Or perhaps she would be the death of him if their conversation didn't sway onto cheerier topics. Charlotte would happily discuss anything, ANYTHING other than this right now.

"That's..."

"Pathetic?" She interjected with a raised brow, already knowing that it was and not wanting to hear the words from his mouth. "Yeah I know,"

"I was going to say sad." He replied with a frown

'Pathetically sad really.'

"What I don't understand is, why you don't have any friends. You're nice, smart and clearly beautiful." Charlotte blushed lightly at his compliment, which turned even darker when she realised he had said it with an intense amount of seriousness. He actually thought she was all the things he said.

"Sirius, let me ask you a question," Charlotte said in a small voice, both because it was an awfully sensitive topic and she still hadn't recovered from her shock at his flattery. "Did you know who I was, before potter asked you to emotionally blackmail into helping him?"

"Hey i wasn't emoti-"

"Did you?" She implored, her gaze turning hard.

"Well... No..." He said with a frown, likely wondering himself why he hadn't.

"And there is the problem right there." She sighed and turned away from Sirius, looking across the room at her sister who was laughing loudly with Alice. Her laugh even sounded perfect. "Half of the students in our year don't even know Lily has a sister. The rest have no interest in socialising with me because they are friends with Lily."

"Well why don't you try to make friends with people, instead of hiding in your room."

Hiding in her... He was either making some spot on assumptions, or had managed to worm this information out of someone else. Considering the only other person who knew she spent all of her time either in her room or in her stone alcove, was Lily, and Lily likely wouldn't tell Sirius anything, she concluded that Sirius was a good judge of character. Or possibly a stalker. Hopefully not the latter.

"It's not that easy."

"Of course it is."

"No it's not," She repeated through gritted teeth. He had no idea how hard it was. He was Sirius bloody Black. His 'good' name alone made him widely noticed by everyone else. One could question whether or not the black name was good, but it was an old and powerful pureblood name. That in itself was enough these days. The girls loved him and the boys were envious. Every step he took screamed confidence and every word that came from his mouth was silky and charming.

"Why?"

"Why are you so damn curious!" Charlotte snapped, sick of his imploring gaze and sensitive questions. He had no right to interrogate her like this, as though they were friends. "Don't you think if I wanted to tell you, I bloody would have!"

He was apparently stunned at her outbreak, as he leaned back on the stool and watched her with wide eyes. A hand wove its way through his messy hair and he turned back to the potions table, a frown set firmly in place.

Charlotte felt bad. She actually felt bad. She shouldn't, he was being a nosy git and just annoying in general, but he hadn't exactly been rude or pushy. Now, he actually looked like a scolded puppy, drooping over the bench with slumped shoulders and poking the leftover roots sitting in front of him.

"I don't know," Charlotte whispered eventually, sighing when his eyes met hers, an intense amount of weariness seemingly overtaking her just in that moment. "For a few years now... Everyone has just forgotten me."

"Forgotten you, what do you mean?"

"I mean I would have a conversation with someone one day and the next it was like we had never spoken. People would walk by my desk and know I was there, but act like I wasn't. Do you know how many times I would sit with Lily and someone would just come interrupt our conversation? All the bloody time."

Charlotte hadn't meant to, but what began as a soft whisper rose to a growl. Impishly she cleared her throat and settled back down into her stool, avoiding Sirius' curious gaze. As she waited for him to say something, she worked on de-tangling her hair, which she had neglected to do anything about when getting ready for the day.

"That's rather... Odd."

"Yes I know," Charlotte agreed nodding her head, wincing when the action tugged a knot that her hands had been woven into. She had puzzled over the oddities of her life for too many hours before she had come to accept her pathetic situation. "That's why I wasn't for a moment surprised when Potter called me Catherine."

"He called you Catherine? Ouch." He said with a wince and slight chuckle.

"Yeah, I'm used to it," Charlotte shrugged. "What I was surprised about, was that both yourself and Potter have managed to remember talking to me. It's quite a feat."

In all honesty, she had been a little more than surprised. Her heart had practically leaped from her chest when Sirius had stepped towards her table. To have someone not only remember her, but knowingly seek her out was something that only happened none too often.

Though both he and Potter managed to annoy her, she couldn't help but appreciate their company.

It was obvious they didn't simply come to her for unselfish reasons. Potter wanted help with Lily and... Well... She didn't know what Sirius wanted, but it likely wasn't to have deep and meaningful conversations.

After many years of having Lily around, Charlotte found she would apparently like anyone's company. Even the schools arrogant, attractive, mischievous pranksters.

"Are you saying we are one of the only people who have?" Sirius said, interrupting her thoughts.

"That's exactly what I'm saying, you're one of five students actually."

Five people. Five bloody people from the last 3-4 years who hadn't forgotten she was alive. If that wasn't a reason in itself to turn into a cold, narcissistic, world hating-bitch, Charlotte really couldn't think of what else could.

"Who are the others?"

"Well Lily, obviously, Alice her best friend who practically lives with us during the summer, Severus-"

"Snivellus!?." He interrupted; his brows raised high and a loud laugh breaking through his lips desperately. It was apparently a lot funnier than she had originally thought as moments after he was still loudly laughing, hitting the table with his fist.

Charlotte could feel her eyes narrow at his mild teasing.

She had never been close to Severus Snape as her twin had. After all it was her who had first met him and it was him who told her she wasn't a freak. Severus may have shown Lily a little of the magical world they had yet to be a part of, but it had taken much longer for anyone to certify to Charlotte that she wasn't an abnormal person.

Lily had known before the Hogwarts letter came that she was a witch, and had clutched the letter to her chest proudly. Charlotte however had just stared at the browned parchment stating that all the weird stuff that had been happening to her for quite a few years wasn't coincidence. Lily had known Charlotte was like her, yet hadn't told her a word Severus had shared to her. In fact, Severus hadn't even known of her existence until she made her way into the tree house they had at the back of the Evans property, where both Lily and Severus were openly performing magic. Severus had been transfiguring parchment into little birds, and Lily had been making them fly.

Charlotte was fascinated, outraged and so completely torn apart and hurt, that the first instinct she had was to run away. Lily did eventually allow Charlotte to meet with them in the tree house, but she felt like an outsider.

So no, Severus wasn't her friend. But he was likely the damn closest thing to it other than Lily. He would always give her a nod of recognition and, before fifth year, would sometimes work with her in the library.

Since last years... events, he hadn't spoken a word to her, and would snarl or scowl at her from a distance. Perhaps he deserved the nicknames and the treatment he received from generally most of the Gryffindors, he had turned cold and had begun to live up to the Slytherin stereotype as she had always feared he would.

"That's a horrid nickname." She admonished, ignoring his eye roll. "Severus, yourself and Potter."

Sirius sat watching her for a few moments, tapping his fingers on the cutting board he had been using earlier.

"I think I know exactly what you need."

"A new life?" She replied, raising a brow only somewhat sarcastic.

If he could find a way to somehow stopper a potion that would give her a new life, shed likely take it without a blink of her eyes. She only felt somewhat guilty for feeling this. After all, she doubted lily would care; Petunia would gladly have one less freak of a sister. She didn't really know what her parents would think. Thankfully it was all hypothetical.

"Nope," Sirius said with a wide grin, popping the p. "you need to make a name for yourself."

"I already have one; I'm the amazing Lily Evans sister." Chapter twirled her hand mockingly in the air with a bright smile.

"One that is a little less depressing." Well he had her there, it was rather depressing. Then again, lately her whole life was depressing, so it wasn't exactly anything new.

"True."

'You need to do something so extraordinary that others won't forget your name or they will see you as more than Lily's sister.'

Now that's an idea. Coming from Sirius, he likely thought doing something stupid that would definitely land her in detention of worse would be the best way to achieve it. Little did he know, practically everything she did was an attempt to pull herself out of Lily's shadow. She hadn't spent weeks and weeks preparing for her O.W.L's because she liked studying. Charlotte didn't even really care what marks she got, as long as they were equal or better than Lily's.

In the end, Lily still managed to better her. Lily achieved an Outstanding in Ancient Runes, whereas Charlotte had only gotten Exceeds Expectations. Her drop in the class came around the same time she had begun drinking. For a few weeks, she traded spending all her time with her head in a book with firewhiskey and red current rum. Half delirious and without a care in the world.

'I don't see a way of that happening.' She muttered darkly, clear resentfulness dripping into every syllable.

'Give me a week.' He said with finality, slamming his closed fist into the table. Earning annoyed looks from throughout the room. 'The marauders will find something!'

'Oh yeah, Potter said that word before, I assumed it was a cult, is it a club?'

'You thought it was a cult?' He sputtered, obviously trying to work out whether he should laugh or be seriously concerned that she had assumed it was some sort of dark arts devotional club.

'Well yeah...' She said with a laugh, as though it was obvious. 'Marauders' wasn't an especially conspicuous name for a club. The word literally meant to search for things to steal or people to attack. She had even gone so far as to look it up in the library. Charlotte had to wonder who the idiot was that had thought up of the name. Had she, and everyone else in the wizarding world, not known that the followers of you-know-who were called death eaters, she'd likely assume that Marauders would be a name they would chose.

'I'll tell you when you're ready.' Sirius said with a proud smirk.

'Ugh, that's what potter told me.' Charlotte shook her head and turned away from Sirius, back towards the potions table before them.

'Hmm well he's usually right,' Sirius commented dryly. If Charlotte knew him any better, she'd think he was suggesting something, but she really didn't know him.

'Okay, well we have about 15 minutes of the lesson left and our potion isn't finished, less chatting and more chopping.'

'Charlotte?'

'Hm?'

'Come to the party.' Charlotte gave Sirius a quick look, regarding his sincerity and soft smile before turning away, once again utterly confused to the boy's motives.

'I'll think about it,' she muttered with a frown.

Charlotte and Sirius spent the rest of class time finishing the potion, testing it regularly by placing a single drop of raven's blood into the cauldron. Each test proved they had brewed the potion to almost perfection. Once they had added all the ingredients and the heat had been turned off, they shared a smile at their joint success. Surprisingly Charlotte hadn't actually minded working with him, other than his intrusive personal questions, of course.

"Merlin!" Professor Slughorn cried, mixing the potion with the dragon bone spoon. His brows were raised and he looked positively stunned "Perfect potion Mr Black, my my! I'm quite impressed!"

"Thank you sir, but really, it was mostly Charlotte here who did all the work." Sirius commented with a wink in Charlotte's direction, who raised a quizzical brow in response.

"Well done my dear, it isn't every day another student manages to best Lily Evans brewing skills!"

"Err... Thankyou sir." Charlotte said uncertainly, completely unaware of the glare she was being given from across the room by her sister. That bite from the professor had Charlotte smiling. Charlotte hadn't been trying all that hard and she somehow managed to brew a better draught than her sister, no doubt due to Sirius help, she'd always been rotten with potion ingredients.

"Yes, 20 points to Gryffindor, for each of you" Professor Slughorn clapped his hands twice, as he so often did, and walked on to the next potions table, making further comments on the other students work.

"Oi! James!" Sirius yelled, standing up on the stool so he was easily visible to the entire room. Charlotte attempted to stop him and drag him off the height by the bottom of his robes; however he simply laughed and tugged his back. Instantly all eyes turned to him as he stood proudly, waiting till potter himself looked directly at him.

Potter ran a hand through his hair so it wasn't hanging in front of his eyes and smiled brightly at his friend who had the attention of the class. Remus Lupin was standing beside him, but unlike Potter who thought the situation humorous; he simply rolled his eyes and packed up the potions equipment. Charlotte gave a roll of her own eyes and sat back in her own stool, frustrated yet not surprised at his antics. "You hear that mate? I got 20 points!"

Several of the students began clapping... Actually clapping, and of course Sirius began bowing to the group of students. Potter had loudly applauded his friend and hooted out from the front of the classroom. Had Charlotte just a little less self control, she likely would have the inclination to send a splash of the Alihotsy draught in his direction, for both educational and amusement reasons. As it was, she just leaned back against the bench shaking her head at the arrogance of her potions partner.

"You just lost 20 for that outburst Mr black, I suggest next time you take a reward a little more graciously"

At Professor Slughorns scolding, Sirius instantly hopped down from the stool and fell into the seat, a disappointed frown on his face. Potter had laughed loudly as he made his way over, swinging his arm around the shoulders of his friend who grunted in response.

"Aww padfoot, it's okay mate. I'm sure you'll manage to make a few more working with Charlotte here."

"Morning potter," Charlotte said with a nod of her head in his direction, which he met with a wide smile, before turning back to the idiot slumped in the stool next to her. "Sirius, why did you say I did all the work? You were just as good as I was"

"He's secretly very modest" Potter said with a whisper caving his mouth with his hands so only the three at the bench could hear.

"Don't tell anyone, it will tarnish my badass reputation" Sirius muttered sarcastically, apparently still down about losing the points he had gained. Hopefully he would learn a lesson about humility. That seemed rather unlikely.

"This better not be your way of 'making a name' for myself, because I have no want to be teacher's pet." That position was reserved solely for Lily.

"Charlotte, love that was me being nice. When I decide a good way to make a name for you, it will be a lot more spectacular, believe me."

"Unfortunately I don't doubt it will be... Spectacular," Charlotte said with a sigh, shaking her head.

Charlotte slung her leather bag over her head, letting it rest lazily at her hip as she tucked her potions book into her bag.

"Charlotte, mind if I walk you to your next class?" A voice beckoned from Charlotte's right.

She turned to see her sister standing with her arms folded around a book, watching her with a heated gaze. If anyone else had been the victim of her question, it would seem as though a friendly invitation. But Charlotte knew better. It wasn't an invitation at all, it was an expectation. One that would likely resolve in another heated fight considering Lily didn't look at all apologetic and Charlotte had nothing to be sorry for. If they were alike in any way, it would be their unfailing stubbornness.

"Yes, I do actually and I'd rather you didn't." Both boys and Lily had equally shocked expressions. Perhaps that had been a tad…blunt.

"Pardon?" She asked raising her brows.

"Ahh…Potter here already said he would escort me, so I really don't need your help Lily." Charlotte smiled brightly, too brightly to be in any case genuine, and turned to Potter who stood before the Potion table looking utterly confused.

"I never-" He started, looking towards Lily.

Charlotte swiftly sent her left leg into his right calf. The action was hidden behind the table; however his reaction was most definitely anything but subtle.

"Ah shit!" He cried, bunching over and hopping on his leg. He sent an annoyed glare towards Charlotte, however she already had a heated scowl of her own. Her eyebrows rose and she nodded towards her sister who was watching the scene with clear skepticism "Yeah I... Yeah."

Potter was as smooth as a shivelfig and it was obvious to everyone that she had forced him into agreeing with her.

"Godric, let's go Potter," Charlotte said with a sigh, grabbing onto the back of his robe and yanking it firmly out of the room. Considering Potter was taller than Charlotte and incredibly built, it was quite funny to watch her dragging him towards the front door. Both Lily and Sirius had matching perplexed expressions; however Lily's seemed to be more annoyed, clear indication that her attempt at avoiding her sister had been obvious.

"Ahh.. Alright then!" Potter cried yanking back his robe. Charlotte complied and let go, allowing him to roughly grab his bag and follow Charlotte out of the potions classroom. He waited till they were several classrooms away before grabbing onto her arm and twisting her around so she was facing him.

"What the bloody hell was that about!" He seethed. Charlotte widened her eyes when she realised he truly was angry at her. Thinking back on her actions, perhaps she shouldn't have kicked him and yanked him out of the classroom like that.

She had managed to make him look even more dishevelled than usual. His robe hung at an odd angle on his shoulders and added to the loose tie and untucked shirt, he looked like a bloody homeless person. It didn't help at all that his thick hair seemed to stick out every which way, giving off the idea that Potter had never heard of a hairbrush, or at least some calming spells to tame his wild hair. His rounded glasses were askew on his nose, and his eyes were practically illuminated with anger. What was usually a ocean blue colour flecked with soft brown, was now blindingly iridescent. The unnaturally haunting colour was burning through her with a heated gaze that had her flushed in an instant as the feelings of guilt, embarrassment and I comfort came over her.

"Sorry," Charlotte whispered, feeling guilty under his furious gaze. "About the kick."

"And the dragging me away?" Charlotte was surprised at his anger. Sure it hadn't been very kind to pull him away like that, but he was virtually steaming at her.

"Well you might have guessed from our overly public discussion last night that Lily and I aren't on the best of terms," She explained, scuffing her shoes against the stone floor as she attempted to look anywhere except his bright hazel eyes which were piercing through her resolve."I wasn't ready to hear her admonish me for being immature and so forth."

"Well it is rather immature to drag me away just so you wouldn't have to talk to your sister," He replied mockingly beginning to walk again.

"Maybe I needed to talk to you as well!" Charlotte cried with equal indignation catching up to him in a few short strides.

"Do you?"

"Well, no,' She admitted with a sheepish smile. "But we might as well, seeing as we are both off to defense anyway."

Both students walked in silence down the hallway, completely unsure of what to talk about. Charlotte couldn't think of a single thing to talk to him about, and he apparently was having the same problem. Other than the rubbish Lily managed to spew out whenever she was on a rant, Charlotte really didn't know a thing about James Potter.

She peeked glance at him from under her eyelashes and noticed he was in deep concentration, likely thinking something over. Hopefully it was a wonderful conversation starter, because their silence was beginning to become awkward.

"Does Lily-"

Instantly Charlotte stopped and grabbed onto Potters forearm so he paused for a moment as well. She didn't mind what they spoke of, in fact she would happily talk about anything in that moment other than the one thing he likely wanted to talk about.

"Can we not talk about Lily please? I know you fancy her or whatever, but surely your life doesn't revolve around her existence."

Charlotte watched as the pinks in potters cheeks glowed for a few seconds as he looked away from her, running a hand through the mess of hair waving on his head.

"Err.. No of course not. What do you suggest we talk about then?"

"Well you play Quidditch right? Tell me about that," Charlotte suggested with a shrug. Honestly she had no interest in Quidditch. Other than the few games she had been dragged to by lily, she had never taken a personal caring for the sport.

"I don't just play, darling, I'm the Gryffindor captain. A bloody good chaser, one of the best," Potter said with a smirk that made his eyes wrinkle and a dimple appear on his left cheek. His arrogant comment was enforced further in the way he puffed out his chest and sauntered beside her.

He may be an arrogant sod, still, Charlotte visibly deflated in relief at seeing anything but a frown or scowl on his face, and his usual cocky attitude returning.

"Always have such a high opinion of yourself?" She beckoned with a glint in her eye as he smiled at her brightly, letting go a little of the arrogant façade, walking normally beside her once again.

"Why of course! Someone has to" The comment caused a moment of sobriety between the two, no doubt thinking about the same person who had little to no opinion of Potter. It really did seem to bother Potter the way Lily often dismissed him, even the thought had him frowning, as he was now.

"What do you like about Quidditch? I'm not really a fan myself, though I haven't watched many games... It all seemed rather boring to me."

"Not a fan... Boring... Good Godric. What kind of witch are you?!" Potter cried his hazel eyes flashing brightly.

"Err..." Charlotte stuttered, confused at his sudden outbreak. Surely it wasn't that odd that she wasn't a fan. She couldn't possibly be the only witch who hadn't appreciated the sport.

"Quidditch isn't just a sport! Quidditch is an art!" He cried, his arms flinging out wildly. Charlotte stepped back slightly, nervous at his display of annoyance.

"Each player has a part, a position. Without each individual effectively playing their part, do you know what would happen?' Charlotte shook her head hurriedly in response, eyes wide. 'We wouldn't stand a chance. Communication is so important within a team, we have to learn to read each other, to know what actions mean and where we will go and what we will do. Quidditch players have to be amazing flyers. With both teams in the air, one wrong move and you kind find yourself in the infirmary in a flash. Quidditch is in no way boring!"

Bloody hell. If this rather loud and scary confrontation told Charlotte anything, it was that Potter had a very deep passionate love for Quidditch, possibly more ardent than his feelings for Lily. His wide frame was looming over her as he stared her down, waiting for her response. He likely didn't realise how intimidating he was, or the way Charlotte was practically shaking.

"I didn't mean to offend you potter, honestly," Charlotte said in a small voice, avoiding his burning eyes. Hesitantly she gave him a soft smile. "I didn't know there were so many aspects to the game. What's your favourite part?"

Potter sighed loudly and ducked his head, shaking it. When he looked back up, all anger or annoyance had disappeared, and he gave her a genuine grin. Charlotte instantly felt the same warming feeling in the pit of her stomach at his soft smile that had suddenly become a recurring event. He was turning her into butter with a smile. Shouldn't that be illegal or something?

"The flying, definitely the flying." He said softly, motioning his hand towards the hallway as they began walking again. Charlotte couldn't move her eyes off him however, and had to trust that if someone else walked down the hallway, they would think to move before she did. Where he had defended Quidditch with a burning fire in his eyes, he spoke of flying softly. His eyes were glazed, recounting fond memories and experiences. "Going so fast that the crowd becomes a blur, dodging around the opposing chasers. You lose yourself in the experience, all cares falling away. It's the most amazing feeling."

"I like flying too," Charlotte admitted with a fond smile. Potter had practically described her own thoughts on flying, other than the Quidditch bits of course. She had loved flying ever since a broom had lifted into her outstretched hand. It had been her favourite part of being a witch, and she missed it dreadfully.

"You like flying but you don't like Quidditch?" He asked with a laugh, considering her out of the corner of his eye. "That seems to be rather contradictory."

"Well I've never played, and the last time I flew on a broom was in 3rd year, we couldn't afford one at home. I 'borrowed' a broom out of the Gryffindor team's collection." She admitted sheepishly with a cough of laughter.

"You stole a broom?" Potter burst out laughing and paused their walk to catch his breath. He had grabbed onto her arm whilst laughing and she blushed inconspicuously. She wasn't overly sure what was so funny, perhaps that it was _her_ who stole a broom, or maybe because most students who were interested in flying already had one.

"Well only for a little while, filch almost caught me so I didn't end up doing it again," She explained with a sigh. "Or anything remotely against the rules"

Potter eventually let go of her arm and began thinking something over determinedly. Charlotte knew this because he was staring at her with his nose scrunched up. It had become the tell-tale sign that he was thinking about something and she had to admit that he looked horribly cute whilst doing it.

"You know... Seeing as I am captain, you could always fly with me sometimes," He offered eventually. Charlotte's eyes widened and she couldn't help the wide smile that broke out across her face. "I have admittance to fly on the pitch whenever my heart desires."

"You mean on separate brooms right?" She clarified pointing between them.

"Of course," Potter said with a laugh as though it should have been obvious, and really it had. Charlotte blushed slightly at her slightly idiotic assumption.

"I'd like that" Charlotte grinned up at Potter who winked in response.

She was so incredibly happy that she hadn't even realised they were standing in front of their Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom only a few minutes later. She had been imaging herself on a broom flying around the Quidditch pitch and sadly couldn't bring up any of the emotions Potter had so easily expressed earlier. It had just been so long since she had flown.

Almost every year since her first, Charlotte had begged her parents for a broom, even saying that it could be her birthday and Christmas present for several years, but their reply was always the same. Though Lily and Charlotte's parents were a lot more accepting than some other muggle parents, they were still hesitant to bring magic into their home, and that meant no brooms, no potions, no incantations and no spell work.

They allowed both their owls to roam freely, but it had taken weeks of convincing in their first year that it was better for the owls and them if they had free reign. Charlotte loved her parents, but they were muggles who really didn't understand their world, and it seemed no matter how hard both she and Lily tried, they didn't want to.

Just the thought of being able to fly again sent her soaring through the clouds. It made her somewhat nervous that Potter would be there, considering she hadn't flown for 3 years, but she pushed the feeling down. After all he had generously offered to take her onto the pitch, allowing her to use the school brooms even though she wasn't on the team. He was being awfully nice. Rather a shame that he was only doing it because she was Lily's sister.

"By the way, for tonight..." Potter said, pulling her out of her thoughts. "Meet me outside the common room at 10pm"

Charlotte went on to assume he meant for their 'meeting'. She had still yet to prepare for it, not that she knew what she should be preparing. The fact that she and lily were currently 'fighting' lessened her guilt somewhat at helping potter, not really enough that she wasn't nervous.

"Uh, that's past curfew," Charlotte said dumbly a frown on her face, stating the obvious.

"I know," He said with a smirk, running a hand through his unruly hair. Charlotte absently wondered how many times each day he would have to do that. His hair was styled so the top was longer than the sides, but his messy waves always seemed to land right in front of his eyes. He could probably just cut his hair shorter so it wasn't so messy and in the way, but his hair sort of completed his look. He wouldn't really be James Potter without his unruly wavy hair that was never for a moment sitting flat on his head.

"Oh, and wear something warm, coat and scarf type of thing. Definitely not school robes."

So, it was rather cold lately, but where could they possibly be going in the castle that would require her to wear warm clothing that wasn't school uniform. Charlotte knew that Potter was rather mischievous and had a knack for getting into trouble or doing stupid stuff that got his friends into trouble, but she really had no wish to be included in his nonsense. She had a perfect record, other than the drinking discovery, and wouldn't tarnish it because of his infatuation with her sister.

"What on earth are you up to James potter?" She asked suspiciously as he opened the class room door for her, bowing and waving a hand in front of him so she would walk in first. She rolled her eyes at his gallantry, but stepped forward none the less.

"It's a surprise," He whispered to her on her way past, his breath hot on her neck and a fire on her cheeks.

"Of course it bloody is,' Charlotte grumbled, stalking off into the classroom, absentmindedly running her hand over the spot on her neck where his breath had run across, knowing that James Potter was nothing but trouble.

Authors note:

 **Thank you everyone for reading this chapter. Feel free to give a review or send me a pm telling me what you think so far on the story. Both positive and negative comments are more than welcomed :)**

 **Sorry this chapter is so long… I didn't really know where to cut it off so I just left it as is. Think of it as a 2-in-1 chapter.**

 **To give everyone an idea of what James looks like, the current cover image is an edited image of Aaron Johnson. This is a rather cliché ideal of James, but I believe it's far better than the actor they used in OOTP.**

 **Even the actor they used to depict James as older than a teenager, before both he and lily died is rather incorrect. James had only been 21 when Voldemort killed him, so really, the actor they used is FAR too old.**

 **I probably should warn everyone... there will be A LOT of Lily Evans bashing. If you don't like it, don't read.**

 **Chapter 6 will be MUCH smaller, only about 4,000 words. Its virtually done, so expect it tomorrow (australian time)**

 **Thank you once again lovelies!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary:**

 **There were many reasons Charlotte was the way she was. Mainly it was her 40 minute older sister Lily Evans. Lily was gorgeous, intelligent, witty and charming. Charlotte was sort of pretty; smart when she tried hard enough, highly sarcastic and unsociable. Charlotte was also virtually invisible behind her sister's stunning shadow. Every year she was in the same classes as her sister, and every year she found herself friendless and slightly more narcissistic than the year earlier. Well, it's their sixth year and Charlotte had long since given up the complexities of friendship in favour of interesting sorts of magic she wondered upon in the restricted section of the school library( and an alcohol habit she had yet to kick). That's where a desperate and ever charming James Potter comes in. Potter obviously doesn't understand the word 'Never' as he continues to try and win over Lily. Seemingly as a last resort, he corners Charlotte and begs her to help him. Not being one to give others false hope, she tells him to shove it where even lumos doesn't shine. However a fateful meeting in a darkened library reveals that Potter and Charlotte may have more in common that Charlotte had ever hoped. They fortify a deal which is beneficial to both parties, with one main rule. DO NOT TELL LILY.**

 **Chapter Six– Holes in walls are Hardly Habitual**

"Potter we are going to get caught!" Charlotte snapped, her hands wrapping around the long coat she had on. It may only be spring, but it was still bloody freezIng, with or without the sun for warmth.

Considering it was almost 10 pm, it was considerably cooler, and the weather was enough to make her regret trusting Potter of all people. He had come to her around an hour ago whilst she was readying in the common room, saying they would be having their 'meeting' at a more comfortable venue as a hint at his 'surprise'.

Charlotte had assumed, hoped even, that it would be a warm place. So far she could barely feel her toes and didn't need a mirror to know her nose was likely as red as Lily's hair.

Potter had told her to dress warmly, so she had. Jeans, 2 shirts and the thickest woolen jumper she could find, all hidden within her brown calf length coat that was meant to be made for this sort of weather. Charlotte couldn't work out if it was only her that was freezing, as potter looked completely fine and unbothered by the relentless wind that was somehow drifting throughout the hallways.

He was wearing a similar fashion to her. Jeans and a coat, however all he had underneath was a thin white cotton shirt. She knew it was thin because through it she could see his abdominal muscles all too well. Let's just say that she refused to tell him why she blushed so badly when she saw him. Charlotte suddenly had a newfound appreciation for quidditch.

"Well yeah , if you keep yelling we will," Potter remarked with a quiet laugh moving slowly down the hallway, every few seconds taking a glance at a piece of parchment he refused to show her.

He had pulled it out of his coat shortly after they left the common room, but pulled it out of eyesight whenever Charlotte attempted to see what it was. Really he was only increasing her curiosity. If it was just a piece of parchment, why would he be hiding it?

"Hello love," a voice whispered in Charlotte's ear, a faint breath dancing across the sensitive area of her neck not covered by her gryffindor scarf. Instinctively she spun around her wand ready, a scream daring to rip through her throat. Her wand poked with flesh and she met stormy eyes which currently looked highly amused.

Ragged hair, lilac scarf and a thick black coat bundled around him as he smirked cheekily at Charlotte, even as she pointed her wand at him. It was just Sirius and if he didn't wipe that infuriating smug smile off of his face, she would not be held responsible for whatever damage her wand may do to him.

"James, Charlotte." He said with a nod to the both of them, sending a wink to Charlotte as he stepped beside his friend and ruffled his already messy hair with his hand, earning a scowl from potter who attempted to smooth it back in place. A lost cause really.

"Bloody hell Sirius you bastard." She said with a gasp, leaning against the wall to catch her breath. "You scared me half to death!"

Not that they could know, though likely guess, she wasn't exactly one for sneaking around the castle dangerously close to curfew. Every whisper of sound that echoed throughout the corridor sent a fearful chill down her spine, one that wasn't due to the ridiculously cold weather. She hadn't been joking when she told Potter the last rebellious thing she had ever done at hogwarts was when she 'borrowed' a school broom. Charlotte had only had the broom in her possession for 30 minutes before she returned it, too worried about the consequences. She hadn't barely flown on it.

"Only half?" He asked smugly winking at her.

"I'm warning you," she said lowly, her wand still out and pointed at him, even as she leaned against the stone wall. Though she was only half serious, the boy was really pushing it. She did not like to be startled like that, and his obnoxious smug character was infuriating her. Enough so that she had several deemable hexes flooding her thoughts. He just rolled his eyes and laughed loudly.

"Both of you be quiet." Potter whisper/yelled feeling the brick wall near them, stopping only to send them both a heated glance that had Charlotte instantly lowering her wand. "The entrance is somewhere around here…"

"What entrance?" Charlotte asked looking at the dull bricks potter had both his hands against. His hands moved slowly, pressing against each brick until his hand pushed one back. All at once the bricks disappeared, creating a darkened archway where a wall once was.

"That entrance," Sirius said, laughing at the awed expression on Charlotte's face as she looked at the doorway which had not been visible a few moments ago.

She had never heard of secret entrances or exits to hogwarts, but it was likely that if anyone knew about it, it would be these two.

"Bloody hell," Charlotte breathed stepping forward so she could see into the hole in the brick wall that suddenly appeared.

"Pretty cool huh?" Potter whispered eagerly with a triumphant smirk. Charlotte could hardly see him in the darkness of the hallway, but she could tell his eyes were lit up excitedly.

'Pretty cool' weren't exactly the words she'd use to describe her feelings. She was never one for breaking the rules, but she couldn't help but appreciate the impressive sight before her.

"Pretty cool? It's bloody amazing!" Charlotte said with a bright smile, stepping through the archway and pulling out her wand, sending up a quiet lumos.'

From where she could see, the pathway which, like the castle was completely brick, had no end. Even as she sent out a Lumos maxima which glided through the air down the pathway, all she could see was more brick, and even more brick. Charlotte managed to realise that this pathway was longer than the grounds of the school, and clearly led out of it.

"Well I'm glad you think so," Potter said with a smile, nudging her shoulder as he walked past.

"How on earth did you find it," She breathed, still utterly stunned and slightly flushed from Potter's playful nudge. Again the warm feeling danced its way through her and

'Ahh but that would be telling.' Sirius answered with a wink.

Why did they have to be so mysterious about everything. First it was their ridiculous nicknames, then their weird club name, and that parchment Potter refused to show her and now they couldn't tell her how they found the passageway.

"Well can you at least tell me where we are going?" Charlotte asked with an annoyed sigh. She'd been doing that alot lately.

"Hogsmeade, hopefully we will get there soon cause i'm dying of hunger." Sirius said, rubbing his stomach with his hand. Charlotte raised a questioning brow. Dinner had only been a little over 2 hours ago, surely he couldn't be hungry already.

"You're always bloody hungry," Potter answered her silent question with a laugh, swinging his fist and hitting Sirius on the shoulder.

"Can't help i have an appetite of a dog" Sirius repeated the same action Potter had a wide smile on his face. All Charlotte could do was stare dumbly at their weird male bonding moment. Is that what all guys their age do? Punch each other?

"Touche my friend, touche."

'Does this go all the way to hogsmeade?' Charlotte interrupted their odd conversation, not sharing their amusement.

'Nah, just enough out of Hogwarts grounds that we can apparate.' Charlotte paused in her gait and looked back slightly at Sirius who had spoken the words she honestly hoped she had misheard.

'Did you say apparate?' She asked cautiously.

'Yeah...'

Charlotte instantly swung around on her heels and began walking the other way, her hair and long coat whipping around behind her at an intense speed.

'Oh good godric, I'm going back,' she muttered attempting to sidestep Potter who had been a few feet behind her. Considering he was a chaser, and apparently the 'best', he had a rather slow reaction time. She managed to pass him and almost made her way past Sirius, but unfortunately wasn't as lucky.

'Hey, hey wait ! ' Sirius called, grabbing onto her arm as she just passed him. She attempted to shrug it off but his concerned expression made her pause.

'Charlotte if you can't apparate we will take you.' Potter said with a frown. Charlotte looked from both Sirius and Potter, assessing their genuinely concerned expressions. Were they actually worried about her?

"It's not that I can't, it's that…" Charlotte paused and frowned. What was it with these two boys and managing to find the most sensitive and raw conversation topics.

"Well?" Sirius implored, his hand loosening on her arm but not letting go just yet.

"First time I tried I got splinched," She muttered, her expression stony and distant. Preferring to not visit the painful memory. Annoyed once again that they had managed to uncover another personal aspect of her life.

The last few days she had managed to share more between these two idiots than she had with anyone in years. It made her wonder if they had hexed her somehow or possibly slipped veritaserum into her meals. She was still tossing up the idea that Potter was a Veela, and possibly even Sirius as well. They always seemed to have a pack of followers gathering around them wherever they went, and the girls in all years swooned just at their mere sight.

Charlotte could admit, they were good looking. It was hard enough to admit that, so there it was, But they weren't that good looking and not that nice either, so why was it that she continued to share such sensitive information with them? Was she really so desperate for social interaction that she would blurt out her deepest darkest fears and troubles to the first person who seemed to care?

'Oh..'

'Yeah oh. It was bloody painful and I don't want another re-run,' She growled, pulling her arm from Sirius' and crossing it over her chest.

Bloody painful is a tad of an understatement, her entire back had a large scar running from her right shoulder blade down to her hip, testimony to her pathetic attempt at apparating. It had only been the very first lesson. She had been the only one to apparate, though unsuccessfully. Thankfully it hadn't been a whole body part, just a large gash, it was still painful and made her want to avoid apparating at all costs.

The scar was horribly ugly and she still had yet to find a potion, cream or charm that could make it look any less grotesque. Even Lily hadn't found anything that could change its appearance. She would have gone to Madam Pomfrey about it but, well, it was rather embarrassing. Thankfully she didn't exactly have any friends who would be at risk of seeing it. She moved her mind from the image of her deformed back and instead looked to both boys.

Honestly she was rather surprised the boys could apparate. The lessons had only been going on for 2 months, and that wasn't exactly a lot of time to learn a complete new form of magic. However, Potter was an animagus, which was obviously an extremely complex type of magic, so she shouldn't be that surprised. Sirius was… well he was good at potions, so perhaps he isn't as stupid and oblivious as he looks.

"Charlotte, I'm a fantastic apparator, very safe. You won't get splinched," Sirius said with a smile. He looked like he was being honest, then again he had spent a whole lesson buttering Charlotte up enough that she would want to help james and another poking at rather sensitive topics that she had no wish to discuss. For someone who looked so easily trusting, he didn't exactly do a whole lot to prove that he had earned it.

"Alright.' Charlotte muttered, pointing a finger in Sirius' face. "But if I do, get splinched that is, you better bloody believe I'll get you for it."

In fact, she would go so far as to try some new hexes she had learnt in a certain book she found in the restricted section. She had been dying to try them out, but getting splinched wasn't exactly worth trying some measly hexes.

"I don't doubt it," he said with a wink. Charlotte simmered her annoyance at his nonchalance of her painful experience with apparition. It disappeared completely when she met Potter's eye and he smiled encouragingly at her.

"Not that I'm not excited for our little adventure boys, but where exactly are we going at hogsmeade... And why?" Charlotte asked with a sigh. She was exhausted.

They had done some pretty advanced magic in defence and between her classes, avoiding lily, growing anxiety about her deal with Potter and the Animagus book she was still attempting to understand, she had hardly slept since she had met Potter that morning. Charlotte was actually hoping this 'meeting' wouldn't take too long so that she could still manage to get a few hours of sleep before classes tomorrow. However unlikely that may seem.

"Three broomsticks, every Tuesday we go out for a drink." Charlotte stared dumbly at Potter, trying to suggest 'and?' with her expression by quirking her brows. It wasn't working on him, as he just looked confused at her.

'Since you're stealing prongs away, we thought it would be better for you to join us,' Sirius Clarified, apparently noticing what she had meant.

'Alright, and by us you mean...' She asked, fearing their answer. Surely it was just the three of them.

'Remus and Peter will be there as well.' Potter said with a shrug of his shoulders. Please be joking.

'And me of course,' Sirius added with a smirk.

Oh good godric they weren't joking. Charlotte was about ready to explode at Potter. Had she not told him that she wanted hardly anyone to know? Why was it that he could tell 3 of his friends and she couldn't tell...Nevermind. The fact that she had no friends of her own to tell was not the point at all. If Charlotte got into trouble for any of this, she would be sure to drag Potter with her, kicking and screaming if need be.

'Potter I said I would talk to YOU about Lily, not half of the bloody gryffindor boys in sixth year!' She yelled stomping her foot on the stone underneath them, ignoring the laughing of Sirius to her left, instead stalking up towards Potter."Do they know about my interest in Animagus? I swear if you tol-'

'Shh!' Potter yelled back, his hand pushed against charlotte's mouth.

'Sorry.' She mumbled against his hand. She had been practically screeching at him, and though she knew the stone walls of the school were thick, she had a tendency for her voice to be heard anyway.

'Don't worry, we'll only be with them for abit, then I'll tell them to buzz off.' Potter said slowly, raising a questioning brow until she nodded and he released his hand. The action reminded her of their meeting in the library and she unconsciously blushed, thankful for the darkness of the pathway even with light spells.

'But I'm staying.' Sirius said, waggling his brows

'Why exactly?, I wasn't joking around before when I said I didn't understand why your presence was necessary,' She said sarcastically poking him with her wand which was lit up on the end in a similar fashion to Sirius and Potter.

'And I wasn't joking when I said that hurt my feelings,' He replied with a mock pout, forcing Charlotte to shove on his shoulder.

'You going to answer the question?' Charlotte asked with a brow raised, her arms crossed on her chest even as they continued to walk down the pathway.

'Nope.'

'Your bloody infuriating!'

'Not the worst thing I've been called by a girl'

'Pfft. I have no doubt.' Charlotte muttered shaking her head. She knew very well that he had been called FAR worse. The other gryffindor girls had a tendency to talk far too loud about topics that should be spoken about discretely, or better yet, not at all. Somehow almost every girl had something to say about Sirius, usually revolving around his looks, how he was a tad of a slag and other topics that had Charlotte blushing.

"Okay here is the exit, it's steep so Sirius and I will go first then we will pull you up," Potter said with a frown, glancing from the wall to Charlotte and back again.

Charlotte looked at the 'steep' ascent he had been describing and glared at Potter. Really it was more of a tall step or wall that she would just have to pull herself up from. It was just above her head and would mean she'd have to jump for it. The suggestion that either boys helped her get up was however offensive. Sure she wasn't exactly muscled and built as they were, but she was no delicate flower either.

She was practically double Lily's size and had enough natural muscle that she wouldn't struggle with such an easy task.

"Pull me up?" She asked incredulously with a snort, "What the hell do I look like? A doll? I'll lift myself up."

'Well alright then love, no need to get your knickers in a knot.' Sirius laughed mockingly and nudged Potter who looked just as unconvinced, though less whimsical.

From his mocking tone, it was obvious he didn't think she could do it, making her all the more determined to prove him wrong. Perhaps she wanted to show off a little as well. Charlotte blamed that small trait on Lily however as she was the one who always seemed to flaunt… everything, all the bloody time.

'Oh shut it.' Charlotte grumbled, shoving Sirius' shoulder on the way past to the wall. She could hear his snickers behind her, but ignored them, preferring to concentrate on finding a way to get up and over the wall the fastest and most sensible way possible.

Lifting her hands up, she realised she could easily meet the top of the walls height without standing on her toes or needing a lift. Slowly, she undid the buttons on her coat and pulled it off, turning and throwing it at Potter who caught it with a confused look on his face. She turned back towards the wall and refused to acknowledge the shiver running down her spine at the brisk air that somehow wafted through the pathway.

Grabbing the top of the wall with both hands, she lowered slightly, her knees bent, then pushed up with a great amount of momentum. She kicked her legs out when she reached maximum height and found herself suspended in a split position just under the top of the wall, hands pushed against each side of the wall. Godric it burnt her inner thighs to stay like that, and had she stayed any longer, she likely would have torn a muscle. With all the strength she had left, she pushed forward and rolled on top of the wall, her legs releasing the sides of the stone wall and tucking under her as she rolled.

Charlotte found herself facing a small wooden door, and as she assessed it, she rubbed her thighs slowly, almost regretting using her gymnastics skills from when she attended the muggle class several years ago. Her body was far stiffer and longer that it used to be, and it had strained almost all the muscles in her inner thighs and upper arms to have her full weight landing on her legs like that. She knew that tomorrow she'd likely wake up in agony, her muscles loudly complaining of their abuse.

Charlotte turned back around and leant over the wall, sitting on the back of her ankles as she looked at the 2 stunned wizards staring in awe at the wall.

"Oi, Potter," She called, getting his attention. "Toss up the jacket love."

He seemed to be rather confused as to what she was asking, until he no doubt remembered he was still carrying the long coat in his hand. With an embarrassed smile, he threw the coat up, Charlotte just managing to catch it before it fell back down.

Not waiting for either of them to get themselves over the wall, as Charlotte was still annoyed at their skepticism, she shuffled towards the small door. She pulled her wand out of her jacket pocket and unlocked the door, watching as it swung open instantly at the easy spell.

Charlotte crawled her way out and stretched her arms over her head, groaning when she could already feel the pain in her arms and legs.

The pathway had led out to the road from which they went to Hogsmeade on carriages. It was still technically Hogwarts ground, yet none of the wards which were in place all over the school were in this area, so they would be able to apparate freely, much to Charlotte's distress.

"I'm impressed." Potter called from behind her, just crawling out of the small door, Sirius following shortly after.

"That I could climb up a small wall? Oh how encouraging," She replied with a roll of her eyes looking around the large sparse area they had ended up in.

"Most girls wouldn't be able to climb up that," Potter pointed out watching her apprehensively.

"At least not the way you did it," Sirius added suggestively, looking her up and down.

'Well you're in luck, I'm not most girls.' Charlotte said shortly walking towards the two.

'I knew it! You're really a boy,' Sirius said with a smirk, winking towards Potter who rolled his eyes

Charlotte socked him hard on the arm, her fist connecting with his bicep. Unfortunately, no doubt due to endless quidditch practises, his bicep was a lot harder than expected, and she found herself hiding her hand behind her back and biting her lip from the pain.

'Ow!' Sirius yelled, rubbing his arm with a pout on his lips. Highly unlikely that it had hurt him at all. His arm had been like a brick wall, and Charlotte was fairly certain her knuckles took the brink of impact.

"You deserved that," she muttered bitterly forcing her facial features into a crestfallen expression. Charlotte made a mental note to never attempt to physically attack either Potter or Sirius as they were far too fit for her weak muscles, and bones apparently. Her hand was throbbing and somehow made her forget about the muscular pain coming from her legs and arms.

"Maybe I did, sorry." Sirius had barely muttered the words and Charlotte took in his slightly awkward stance and the way he was rubbing the back of his neck. She smiled wide realising he actually looked apologetic.

"Damn straight." She said with a wide smile patting his cheek mockingly. "Now how is this going to work."

"just wrap your arms around me love," Sirius said, holding his arms out in an expectant embrace.

"Or I can just put my hand on your arm?"

"Charlotte it would reduce the chance of being splinched if you did hug him." Potter pointed out with a reluctant smile. He walked over to Sirius and swung his arm around his shoulder poking his stomach with his finger so he inched away slightly. 'He wont bite.'

They both seemingly found this hilarious as they both fell into fits of laughter, hunched over with their arms swung over each others shoulders.

'Your joking right?' Charlotte asked hopefully when they finally regained their composure.

'No unfortunately it is the safest way.'

"And i wont bite, unless you want me too." Potter shoved Sirius as they laughed and he stepped away so they were at least several feet apart. "Well then?" Sirius asked smirking, holding his arms out in preparation of their hug.

With a groan she wrapped her arms loosely around Sirius's shoulders, uncomfortable with the idea of even being close to him. Slowly he pulled her closer until their chests were flush against each other and her arms could wrap easily around his neck. Thankfully she was only an inch or two shorter than him. He was however far wider across the shoulders and she found herself almost encased in his warm arms. Do not blush. Do not blush!

'Don't get any ideas pervert.' She muttered, pulling his hands up from her lower back towards her waist. Infuriating tingles sparking at the feeling of his hands grazing up her back, and she forced herself not to shiver. She doubt she would be able to blame it on the cold, no matter the weather.

'Hey!' Sirius said laughing. Charlotte discovered that when he laughed, he laughed deeply, as she felt it from the centre of his chest as it rose upwards. They were so close that she felt every movement from him, and the feeling of his laughter tickled her uncomfortably.

"Hurry up," She grumbled, tired of blushing at the stupid boy.

"Hold on tight," he whispered in her ear, his breath brushing past dangerously. She was too full of fear to even appreciate how suggestive that small action was. She hadn't apparated since that first time and the longer they stood there, the more anxious she became. She had practically drawn blood from how hard she was biting her lip but didn't notice the taste, even as it pooled on her tongue.

"Bloody hell," she muttered as she gripped onto Sirius' neck tighter. Potter had already apparated away with a snap and she could feel Sirius turn slightly in preparation. Charlotte hugged him in a death grip and ignored the fact that she had never been so close to another person. Before when he had pulled them together, they were close, but now you could hardly distinguish where one body started and the other ended. Charlotte had crushed herself against his body in the hopes that the closer she got, the less likely she would have a repeat of her last apparition. He chuckled softly again, making her nervous when she felt it on and in her own chest, and spun blindly.

Charlotte could feel herself spin in apparition and even as they continued to spin, she held onto Sirius' form tightly, refusing to open her eyes. The last thing she remembered before snapping into Hogsmeade was the swell of nausea rising in her stomach and the thought that she was probably going to spew all over Sirius.

 **Authors note:**

 **SO i may or may not have lied. Sorry, but tomorrow is just too far away, and i already have most of Chapter 7 done so it seemed redundant to wait!**

 **This chapter may seem rather pointless, but it's more a filler till the next chapter which will be when Charlotte not only meet Remus and Peter, but also discusses the first step towards Jamesey getting with Lily. Hmm i wonder what her insights will be…**

 **Do you think she will be going to Remus' party? If she does go, will she get wasted? will lily find out? Will Lily contact their parents? AND what is going on between Sirius and Charlotte? Just some things to ponder :)))**

 **15,000 words in 2 chapters. Even i'm impressed haha.**

 **Hope you enjoyed it! Review**

 **Thanks lovelies**

 **Xxxx**


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary:**

 **There were many reasons Charlotte was the way she was. Mainly it was her 40 minute older sister Lily Evans. Lily was gorgeous, intelligent, witty and charming. Charlotte was sort of pretty; smart when she tried hard enough, highly sarcastic and unsociable. Charlotte was also virtually invisible behind her sister's stunning shadow. Every year she was in the same classes as her sister, and every year she found herself friendless and slightly more narcissistic than the year earlier. Well, it's their sixth year and Charlotte had long since given up the complexities of friendship in favour of interesting sorts of magic she wondered upon in the restricted section of the school library( and an alcohol habit she had yet to kick). That's where a desperate and ever charming James Potter comes in. Potter obviously doesn't understand the word 'Never' as he continues to try and win over Lily. Seemingly as a last resort, he corners Charlotte and begs her to help him. Not being one to give others false hope, she tells him to shove it where even** _ **lumos**_ **doesn't shine. However a fateful meeting in a darkened library reveals that Potter and Charlotte may have more in common that Charlotte had ever hoped. They fortify a deal which is beneficial to both parties, with one main rule. DO NOT TELL LILY.**

 **Chapter Seven – Meet the Mesmeric Marauders**

If one were to spin around 20 times and attempt to walk straight, they would no doubt make a fool of themselves and likely end up as a heap on the floor. Apparition is like spinning hundreds of times at a speed that is not even visible, to wizards and Muggles alike. Most wizards and witches feel nauseated the first few times of attempting the transportational Magic, others, no doubt the more powerful, manage to complete the action without involuntarily emptying their breakfast meal on the floor.

Charlotte was a smart witch and somewhat good with spells, but for the life of her, she would never not feel sick apparating, especially after the painful events the first time. Even thinking of apparating sent a chill down her back.

It took them only a moment to appear just on the outskirts of Hogsmeade, signalled with a loud *crack*. They had all their limbs attached and not a single splinch was noticed. Charlotte was, however, turning a rather obscure shade of green, even as she was held in an embrace by Sirius. She started to push against his chest, but his arms tightened around her stomach as she felt a round of dizziness overtake her. He likely thought he was being cute, or charming but really he was just pissing her off.

"Sirius unless you want vomit on you, let go of me," She murmured with a wince, knowing that if he didn't let go of her in the next few moments that is definitely what she would do.

"Er, right.. Sorry." He let go of her instantly and she stumbled away from both boys, falling on her knees and hunching over. The area they hand landed in was spinning slightly in Charlotte's eyes, and she held them tightly closed, hoping it would take away some of the nausea.

"Charlotte, you alright?" Potter asked, walking over to her side and kneeling next to her. If Charlotte wasn't green, feeling like she was going to either vomit or faint, she may have hugged him. He was currently showing his kind side, and it was honestly rather adorable the concerned way he was watching her movements. The hand he had at her elbow was strangely comforting and she found herself drawing strength from his help.

"Just peaky mate," She said with a weak smile, looking up towards them slightly but retreating her eyes closed again when their images began wavering. Underneath her hands, the grass was cool and comforting. After a few moments of staring at the green grass sway against the wind, she found she wasn't as dizzy, and could look up without the world tilting on its edge.

"You don't look peaky, you look green," Sirius said with a laugh ruffling her knotty blonde hair. Enough so, that it sat in an awkward mess on her head. She swiped at his hand with a scowl and attempted to straighten it slightly, to no avail. Once her hair was knotty, there was no going back until she next had a shower, or Lily had a whack at it with her wand.

"I swear, Sirius I will aim at you," Charlotte threatened, narrowing her eyes at the smug boy who laughed loudly in response.

"If it makes you feel better the colour looks nice with your hair."

"Sirius I don't think you're making her feel better,"' Potter pointed out, holding onto Charlotte's arm as she stood up from the ground on shaky, weak legs. She sent a small grateful smile to Potter as he assisted her in walking forward.

Charlotte was horribly embarrassed being treated like an invalid, without Potter's help she'd likely careen until she landed in the dirt. Being helped was far less embarrassing than falling on her ass.

"Can't imagine why, it was a compliment."

"Sirius I will-"

"Okay let's just go before we end up back at Hogwarts with one less student." Potter said with a laugh, tugging on Charlotte's arm so she would retreat away from Sirius and back towards the Hogsmeade path.

Charlotte sent one more glare towards the tall shaggy boy before standing beside Potter and accepting his arm of help. Perhaps if they walked fast enough Sirius would somehow get lost, or fall of a cliff or spontaneously combust. If it got him to shut up, then she would be thankful.

It took them far longer to reach the 'Three Broomsticks' than they likely would had she not been stumbling about as though she had already had a few too many fire whiskeys. By the time they arrived at the entrance, Charlotte felt almost normal and entered the pub without the help of Potter, who proceeded to insist that he was happy to help.

It took Charlotte several minutes to adjust her eyes to the view, and she found herself looking at the same pub she had spent her 17th birthday on, only no students, and a fair amount of drunk wizard and witches. The room was scarcely lit, and chairs and tables were set out with no ornaments or decorations to make the pub seem warmer or more inviting. Honestly, it was what she had always imagined the dungeons to be like. Cold, uninviting and slightly creepy.

They found their way to a corner table on the far right of the pub, where the remainder of her two companion group sat waiting. The area was somewhat more comfortable, but it was highly likely that it merely seemed that way because the people surrounding the table were the least drunk in the entire room.

"Remus, Peter, this is the lovely Charlotte Evans, Lily's sister," Sirius said, waving his hand in front of Charlotte like she was a product that he was advertising. Charlotte rolled her eyes and swatted his hand away so she could step towards the rectangular table, directly in front of the two seated boys before her.

"Pleasure to meet you Charlotte," a boy with soft blonde hair said, leaning over the table to shake her hand. Charlotte smiled easily and met his hand, giving it a firm shake before letting go.

Of course, like Potter and Sirius, Remus Lupin hadn't yet noticed her existence. She had met him numerous times, and it made it all the more painful to stand before him as a complete stranger. Hadn't he ever wondered who was always placed just before him in several classes in second place, whilst he remained third?

He was actually fairly close to her sister. Lily probably liked Remus the most out of all the boys sitting at the table. Unsurprising, considering he was obviously the nicest and most intelligible of the group.

"You too," Charlotte replied in a low, soft voice, worried that it would likely squeak with emotion if she spoke any louder. He seemed curious at her barely there response and shy answer, but thankfully didn't say a word.

Charlotte turned to face the smallest boy of the group and raised her brow when he didn't speak a word or make any indication that she was even present at the table. He was at least a head shorter than her, and had chubby cheeks and a mat of soft brown hair on top of his head that appeared to be the neatest out of the group. She looked at Potter and Sirius quizzically, but they simply sat down on the seats, not at all surprised by his lack of social manners.

Charlotte had yet to meet another person her age who has been just about unsociable as she was. Peter appeared to be her equal, though a lot more shy than she was. Then again, he had 3 friends, 3 more than Charlotte could speak of.

"Hello," Charlotte said, somewhat awkwardly once she realized the he didn't look like he was going to say anything.

"Hey there," He eventually said, a smile covering his face, looking quite relieved. Charlotte sighed and sat in the chair Potter had pulled over from another table next to him, sending him a thankful smile as she unwrapped herself from the winter coat and placed it behind the chair.

"I didn't know Lily had another sister, What school are you from?" Remus asked once she was sitting comfortably, with a kind smile, looking her over quizzically.

Oh Godric, not this again. Charlotte was suddenly flooded with all the things she would rather be doing than sitting at that table, her existence being questioned by the smarted boy at Hogwarts. Perhaps she'd hold a lovely conversation with darling Lily, or maybe clean all the cauldrons in Hogwarts without using magic. Those two options alone seemed like nothing compared to the embarrassment and hurt she was experiencing now.

"Err... Hogwarts?" She stated, her cheeks turning crimson instantly. She started nibbling on her lip as she looked at the table with an incredible amount of intensity. Oh, what impeccably crafted wood.

"Sorry?"

"Remus, she's been in our class since first year, she's lily's twin sister," Potter explained with a laugh, even though he had only found out a few weeks ago. Smug  
prat likely thought he was smart for knowing. Charlotte would have slapped him upside the head, but was still distracted by the… interesting table.

"You're joking," He said, his mouth gaping wide as he stared at Charlotte, his eyes running up and down her face attempting to find her in his memories.

Charlotte closed her eyes and struggled against the anger and sadness beginning to swirl inside that threatened to break through, likely out of her wand. She'd endured through this before, she could handle it. When she opened her eyes once more, she pushed all anger and sadness to the back of her mind.

'Nope.' She said with an awkward laugh 'I'm in all of your classes.' They had been since she came to Hogwarts. After being sorted he was the one who sat on her left and Lily on her right.

Before, Remus was stunned, and a little disbelieving, now he looked horribly guilty. His eyes were practically bulging out of his head, and she feared that his jaw would fall out of his mouth if he didn't close it before long.

"Oh, shit, I'm so sorry. I didn't... I mean I wouldn't-"

"Don't worry about it," Charlotte interjected, hands raised and a too cheery smile plastered carefully on her face. "You're not the first person who thought so, and you probably won't be the last."

"Whether or not I was the first, I'm terribly sorry."

"It's fine, honestly," Charlotte said with a laugh meant to exude confidence. At the end it kind of came out as a groan or whine and she forced herself to shut up.

"So you're the one who's helping prongs with his girl problem?" Peter asked, surprisingly breaking the awkward silence between the 5 of them.

"If you mean potter, then yes." Charlotte said with a thankful smile. She had feared had they of sat in silence any longer she would be the one who had to speak first. In all likelihood, she would say something horribly awkward and equally embarrassing.

"That's considerate considering Lily is your sister," He said with narrowed eyes, suspicion dormant in his expression.

Just what was he getting at? He actually looked suspicious. His round face was screwed up, and the blue in his eyes was barely visible. Did he think she was trapping potter somehow? Leading him into a false sense of assurance with her sister just to humiliate him. Well, it was rather cute how considerate he was of his friends

"Well, I'm a considerate sort of person I guess," Charlotte mumbled scuffing her shoe on the floor to avoid the eyes on her. Why in Godric's name were they all staring at her like that, the same way Sirius had that day, like she was something they had to solve. Like she was broken and only they could fix her. It made Charlotte feel awfully pathetic.

"What can I get you all?" A cheery voice asked from just the side. An older woman, likely at least double their age was standing near their table with her hands clasped together and a bright genuine smile on her face.

Charlotte was rather parched, and was tossing up whether or not to order an alcoholic drink, knowing that Lily would likely be around when she got back. Another morning of Lily watching over her like a hawk was not something she wanted. Then again, if she wanted to get through this awkward and uncomfortable meeting with her sanity intact, she'd have to have something.

"Can I get 3 shots of firewhiskey please?" Charlotte asked with a polite smile, turning back to the boys awaiting what them wanting. However, all four were looking at her with wide eyes and brows raised. Sirius seemed to be rather impressed by her order, but the other three did nothing to conceal their shock and judgement.

"What?" Charlotte grumbled, surprising the four Gryffindors with her acidic tone. "Can I not drink without your judge looks?"

She had received enough of those from Lily, she certainly didn't need it from 2 virtual strangers and Sirius and Potter, who were likely the closest things she'd ever had to friends. She could handle the judgement from her sister, because she couldn't give a toss what her perfect sister thought of her. These four though?

"Charlotte we're just surprised, Lily isn't exactly known for drinking," Potter explained, as though that was reason enough to judge her. His smile was trying to communicate for her to calm down, and blasted it was actually working. Charlotte was actually struggling to stay annoyed.

"Well, I'm not Lily, am I," She pointed out with a sarcastic smile. He seemed to have taken her hint and backed off respectfully. Thankfully, his smile dropped as well.

"No you most certainly aren't." Sirius said with a smirk, winking at her then turning towards the bar attendant who was watching the scene, rather amused. "Make that 6 shots and 3... Butterbeers, you want that right?" He turned to look at the three other boys who gave shrugs "Yeah 3 butterbeers." The lady walked away with the promise that their drinks would be out momentarily.

Thank godric for Sirius Black and his easy going nature.

"So tell us Charlotte," Remus said with a smile, one that was part pity, guilt and genuine intrigue, a rather annoying mixture of emotions. "Why animagus?"

Anim... Charlotte turned her eyes onto Potter who suddenly looked the most guilty in the room. She watched as he slowly shrank in his seat, her stare becoming as hard as stone and as intimidating

"You told them!" Charlotte cried eventually, making him jump in his seat. His sheepish smile, the one that made the disgusting flying insects in her stomach go crazy, annoyed her so much that she ended up whacking him right over the head. She could hear Sirius attempting not to laugh, resulting in gasping breaths and loud snorts. Sirius does not suit subtlety well.

"Ow," Potter murmured, rubbing his head with a frown. "Well yeah..."

Charlotte whacked him over his head again when she had seen that smile tug at the corner of his lips again, just for good measure.

"Bloody hell Potter!" Charlotte moaned, slumping in her seat, watching as he rubbed his head again with a confused frown. "You tell me I can't say a word to anyone yet you go blabbering my side to all your friends!? You realise it's ILLEGAL right? As in, NO ONE should know I'm doing it!"

Potter hadn't thought of this apparently, as he sat sputtering. His eyes travelled to his three friends, silently begging them for assistance. He probably didn't want to get whacked again.

"Charlotte we wouldn't tell anyone, and honestly we didn't know it was meant to be a secret," Remus said eventually. He was being honest, she could tell because he was the only one who understood why she was so bloody frustrated. Why couldn't his friends have the same intelligence.

"That's all good and well Remus, doesn't change the fact that asshole here can't keep his damn mouth shut." Charlotte sent potter a glare that insinuated another whack was likely to come his way. He visibly shrunk in his seat with wide eyes and Charlotte grinned triumphantly.

Eventually Charlotte sighed and rubbed the weariness out of her eyes. It had been one of the longest strangest weeks Charlotte had ever experienced and it didn't seem to be getting any calmer. "Okay i need to know what I got myself into, am I right in thinking that whatever I tell Potter, he'll likely tell the rest of you?"

"Probably"

Of-bloody-course.

"This is a bloody mess," she mumbled, her face covered by her hands. She was slumped on the wooden table, and could feel 4 pairs of eyes on her. Where was those bloody drinks when she needed them?

"Lottie, we won't tell anyone," Potter whispered with a small smile.

"You lost the privilege to use that name," She grumbled, raising her head enough to give him a hard stare. That name was firmly resolved for her annoying sister and… well, just that. Why had she even told him in the first place?

"Fair enough."

"Godric I'm regretting this already," Charlotte admitted with a sigh. She sat back up and regarded the boys before her.

She had 'known' them for 6 years. Remus, Charlotte believed, she could trust. He was the closest out of all the group to Lily, who often commented on how genuine and gentlemanly he was compared to his comrades. She was utterly unsure of whether she could trust Sirius. All he had managed to do since she met him was make slightly suggestive remarks and bring up sore topics. It hadn't escaped her notice that he hadn't told her a blasted thing about him. Peter, she assumed, would be silent as long as his friends were. He was more of a follower than anything.

Potter. Well potter at the moment was getting on her last nerves, and her hand was just twitching looking at him out of the the corner of her eye, sitting next to her all calm.

"I need all of your words, i refuse to get into trouble because you giggle over my secrets late at night in your dorm okay?"

"We solemnly swear," all four said in complete unison, all smiles and humour gone. Godric they take their swears seriously. One moment they were a mixture of emotions then in the next they were dead serious. Moodier than Lily was around that time of the month, which was really saying something because Lily was bipolar whenever the time hit.

"What is it with swearing solemnly..." She wondered aloud watching as their seriousness faded to comfortable curiosity.

"So... Animagus?"

"Huh?" Charlotte mumbled stupidly, looking to Sirius, rather confused. His expression seemed to show one that expressed _are you an idiot_ , and it snapped her out of her faze instantly. "Oh right! Well I've always been fascinated with that particular transfiguration magic. I practically begged Mcgonagall to talk to me about it, but when she saw I was interested beyond educational reasoning, she refused to speak of it."

"Sounds like our Minnie" Potter said with a bright smile, slinging his hands behind his head so he looked incredibly comfortable sitting on the rickety old chair. Charlotte sat watching him for a few moments, at a slight loss for words. His Hazel eyes were dancing excitedly and the smile that tugged on his face made both dimples on his cheeks appear.

Realization of what he said hit her like a brick and she audibly forced a breath out of her chest

"Merlin, did you just call Professor Mcgonagall, head of Gryffindor house, deputy headmistress and one of the best transfiguration witches of our time... Minnie?"

"Sure did, it annoys her, so we made a habit to continue to annoy her," Potter explained with a smirk.

"Well that must work wondrously, how on earth do you get out of things so easily if you piss off our professors so easily."

"Charm and good looks," Sirius answered for the both of them, winking at her. Potter leant over Charlotte to high five his friend and Charlotte didn't even care to hold back the snort of disapproval.

"Godric, I swear, you two are the most self-"

"You were saying ?" Remus interrupted with a smile. He honestly hadn't seemed bothered by their nonsense at all. Considering he had been friends with them both for so many years, he likely was used to their ridiculous antics and enormous ego's.

"Right...So of course, I became even more interested. I mean... To turn yourself into another being... An animal... It's Incredible. And the fact that this animal is a part of you, a representation of who you are, a physical form of your magic... Well... How could I not want to learn it."

All four of them shared a smile. They literally all looked at each other and smiled, it was rather odd and kind of creepy and Charlotte felt like she was intruding on some weird bonding moment and suddenly wanted to run from the room.

"How did prongs hear of it?"

"Well a few months ago when I was... Uh..." Drunk off her face without a clear thought in sight? "Let's just say I decided on a better use of my time than what I was doing. For weeks I attempted using just my knowledge of Animagi, but I got nowhere. I finally decided that I needed more knowledge. Potter found me in the restricted section with a copy of a research book on Animagi."

"And you just made a deal with him?" Peter asked sceptically.

"He made a compelling argument." More like her want to learn about Animagi outweighed her care for her sister's love life. "Besides, I've been trying for months and have gotten no where, really I could use all the help I can get."

"Funny that sounds exactly like the issue James has." Sirius laughed, clapping Potter on the back.

"Shut it Padfoot," Potter growled, crossing his arms on his chest, making him look like a child who was scolded.

Padfoot? She had questioned their odd nicknames before, but still it was so incredibly odd to actually hear them call each other that.

"You know it's true mate, your helpless"

"What's with all the weird nicknames?" Charlotte asked curiously, looking at each of their confused expressions one at a time. They either didn't realise how odd the names they called each other were, or they were incredibly more daft than she had thought. Both options didn't seem to show a great amount of promise, and certainly didn't assure her in their

"Hm?"

"Prongs... Padfoot... Those are weird nicknames to call each other." Charlotte pointed between both Potter and Sirius respectively, who looked at each other with proud smirks. "Is it code or something?"

"It's an old joke," Remus explained with a tight smile. Charlotte actually wondered if a smile could ever look much more forced.

Assuming his odd nature had something to do with her question, Charlotte had obviously hit the marker on their nicknames. He had only made it more obvious by his attempt at diversion. Remus lupin was not a good liar.

"Right...," Charlotte said suspiciously raising a brow. She was trying not to smile, because then they would suspect she knew what Remus was being odd about, and really, she wanted to find out the codes herself rather than asking. Why take away all the fun?

"So what do you think your form will be?" Peter asked eagerly from her right on the other side of Sirius. He was grinning widely and waited for her to answer with barely kept excitement.

"Well honestly, I have no idea," Charlotte admitted with a sigh. She was hoping for something equally majestic and powerful. She could see herself as a dragon, of possibly even a Phoenix. Now wouldn't that be amazing.

Knowing her, she'd probably become something small and insignificant like a snail, or ant. Charlotte shuddered at the thought of becoming something so ridiculous. Surely her magical core wouldn't represent itself in such a pitiful manor.

"What's your patronus?" Peter asked again, likely wanting to guess on her answer.

"Uh... I don't know," Charlotte winced when all eight eyes were focused on her in confusion.

"You've never cast a corporeal patronus?"

No she had never cast a corporeal patronus.

They had been studying it for several weeks in DADA, and she had actually been making progress. She was able to cast a patronus just fine, thanks to some fond memories of her childhood, and several days in a row it began to transform into something more. Charlotte had been so excited to see what guardian form would burst forth from her wand.

She was also ether proud that she had gotten further than Lily, who seemed to suddenly struggle with this form of magic. Charlotte had been practising for weeks and weeks!and her progress slowly began to decline. Somehow, she was getting worse!

She could barely cast a patronus any more. Their professor had assured Charlotte it was most likely because of negative thoughts, and Charlotte didn't doubt that was the reason she couldn't cast a patronus, but she had been perfectly fine and confident in her magic when her progress began to decline. It was like her magic just gave up.

Thankfully, (not really), Lily was the only one who noticed her shocking attempts, and was encouraging as she could be. Charlotte didn't miss the smirk she had sent her way when a bright beautiful unicorn had emerged from her wand, she had practically rubbed it in her face, pompous git.

"I've never been able to," Charlotte said eventually with a cough of her throat, clearing away the dryness and the annoying memory.

"Well that's depressing," Sirius drooled with a sigh leaning back in his chair and closing his eyes.

"Thanks Sirius," Charlotte said sarcastically, rolling her eyes when he winked at her, he truly was relentless. "And that's bloody hard magic! Are you saying you've all cast it then?"

Charlotte looked around to see they had all nodded in answer to her question. Both potter and Sirius smiling smugly.

"Well shit," Charlotte muttered her face a blaze of crimson. She heard the muffled laughter of the group but refused to meet their eyes and instead focused on clasping her hands together as tightly as she could.

She truly hadn't expected that they could all cast it yet. Perhaps Potter and Remus, as she knew how good the both of them were with magic, but to know all four of the boys before her could, and she could hardly cast a patronus was more than embarrassing. Charlotte was a bloody good witch and should easily have been able to cast both, utterly humiliating.

No matter how much Charlotte asked, none of the 4 would share what their patronuse's were. Charlotte should have already known what they were, considering they all had DADA together, however she had never been overly concerned about any of them. She had been too focused on trying to beat her sister to really care what other students were doing.

She understood why Potter wouldn't tell her what his patronus was, it would likely give away his Animagus form which was often a similar form or the same. He was rather adamant that the unveiling of his form would be a surprise. It only made Charlotte suspicious that his form was something utterly humiliating or stupid. However, she didn't understand why the other 3 boys wouldn't tell her. It was all rather suspicious, and they seemed to think it hilarious that she was annoyed they wouldn't tell her.

"Why have we never seen or heard of you before?"

"Wormtail!" Sirius yelled, shaking his head to usher a silent _don't ask that_.

"It's just a question!"

"No it's okay, most people are curious...," Charlotte said with a trickled laugh that sounded dead to her own ears.

It was certainly a loaded question and she could answer it many ways. Considering she only just met the poor sod and didn't want to unload the many years of her pathetically normal and isolated life, she settled for a non-lie/half-truth. "I don't get out much."

Both Potter and Sirius gave her a sad smile that was dripping with pity and made her want to hex the life out of them. She hadn't actually shared with Potter about her… social deficiency, so it was clear to assume that Sirius had told Potter. Well isn't that just brilliant. Another school wonder who knew just how pathetically pathetic she was. Bloody brilliant.

"You don't get out much... Seriously?" His voice dripped with sarcasm.

Well he really struck the right nerve, certainly the right one tonight, for instantly Charlotte turned to stone and her dark eyes shone dangerously. For once her unkempt and knotty hair seemed to match her personality as she was simply bristling with anger.

"Well i don't really know what else to tell you," Charlotte spat venomously, leaning across the table so the space between her and the small boy minimised. Peter seemed to realise he said something wrong and his eyes darted across the table, pleading for help. "Shouldn't you be wondering why you never noticed me. Why you never took the time to see that i was in your class for 6 years and none of you looked my way or spoke a word to me."

Charlotte had leaned back and was now addressing all four of them, not caring for the saddened looks on potters and Sirius' faces. In her eyes, they were just as guilty as the rest of the bloody school. They had ignored her just as much as anyone else. Just because in the last few days they had found something to talk about with her, doesn't mean they are suddenly exempt from her anger. A few days doesn't pay back 6 years of isolation.

Distantly she felt a hand rest on her shoulder, but she tugged it off quickly, continuing with her rant. "Why none of the school knows Lily Evans has a twin. If anyone has the problem, it's you. I don't think its my fault that you can't pull your big heads out of your asses long enough to see anyone outside your bloody cult!"

They were all stunned to silence, and all that could be heard was the rough breathing of Charlotte as she attempted to gain the oxygen she had been deprived of during her outlash.

Perhaps she had been a tad dramatic. From the looks on their faces, that very well may be the case. Sodding idiot didn't have to be all sarcastic however.

"Well clear-"

"Drop it Pete," Potter said loudly. If Charlotte still hadn't been annoyed, she likely would have laughed at the amount of authority in Potter's voice. It hasn't been a suggestion, rather an order, and for some odd reason, the small boy complied instantly, shutting his mouth and letting his sarcastic remark fall to the floor. "Okay guys Charlotte and I have stuff to talk about so we'll convene later."

"Was nice to meet you Charlotte," Remus said in a small uncertain voice. Oh Merlin, she had managed to scare the poor boy with her yelling. He was standing to the side of the table wringing his hands, he looked so horribly guilty, even though she should be the one who felt guilty. He hadn't done anything after all, he hadn't known. None of them had.

"Yeah you too Remus," she said with a small smile. She stood up to meet him to the side and bit her lip when he took a step back slightly. "I'm sorry for yelling, it's been a long day and I've unfortunately spent most of it around Potter and Sirius."

"Ah," Remus said with a smile, nodding his head. "Well that explains it all then,"

"I'm actually rather impressed you're not batshit crazy, being friends with them after all this time."

She's actually more impressed that he would want to be friends with them. From what she's seen and heard from Lily, Remus was studious, kind, honest and quite possibly the opposite of Sirius and James. He was also a Gryffindor prefect. He seemed to be perfectly at ease breaking school rules however, so perhaps the prefect system was rather flawed. It was actually the first time Charlotte had seen him breaking school rules, considering the punishment if they got caught, it was rather surprising.

"Well, you get rather used to their nonsense. They are good people when you can deflate their egos enough to fit them in an enclosed area." He was giving her a knowing smile, and she briefly wondered if he knew what she had just been thinking.

"I'm sure they are," she muttered honestly. From what she had already seen of them, they were good people. Just overly annoying, stubborn, smug and self absorbed.

"I guess ill see you tomorrow night?" Remus asked hopefully. "Will you come? Surely you've heard about the party in the common room."

"I don't think there is a Gryffindor who hasn't heard," Charlotte said with a laugh. Considering Sirius had practically yelled it out every morning before breakfast in the common room she would honestly be surprised if there wasn't a student at Hogwarts who hadn't heard by now.

Remus didn't seem to realise she hadn't actually answered her question, or at least, didn't say anything if he did. He had walked over to potter and began talking to him in hushed voices.

Charlotte watched with suspicion as potter turned and looked at her a few times during their talk. She would have walked up to them and asked what they were talking about that would require potter to look at her several times, but Peter stopped her in her tracks.

"Sorry Charlotte, I didn't mean to be rude," He mumbled, averting his eyes and genuinely looking guilty. She felt terrible now.

"Don't worry about it peter, I'm sorry for lashing out at you."

"It's okay, I kind of deserved it," he said with a shake of his head.

"You didn't deserve that at all, I was being self absorbed and petty," Charlotte said forcefully, smiling when he looked up at her with wide eyes. "It was good meeting you Peter."

He seemed to think over things before answering, giving her a bright smile as well. He had probably been wondering if it was good to meet her, going of the look on his face. "You too Charlotte"

Both boys left the table with a wave, and Charlotte went back and sat down. Sirius and Potter were standing to the side, looking almost worried that it was just the 3 of them now. Godric, what did they think she was going to do? Curse them into oblivion?

Charlotte gave a long, deep and weary sigh as she slumped further into her chair. She had a very strong feeling that it would be a long night.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary:**

 **There were many reasons Charlotte was the way she was. Mainly it was her 40 minute older sister Lily Evans. Lily was gorgeous, intelligent, witty and charming. Charlotte was sort of pretty; smart when she tried hard enough, highly sarcastic and unsociable. Charlotte was also virtually invisible behind her sister's stunning shadow. Every year she was in the same classes as her sister, and every year she found herself friendless and slightly more narcissistic than the year earlier. Well, it's their sixth year and Charlotte had long since given up the complexities of friendship in favour of interesting sorts of magic she wondered upon in the restricted section of the school library( and an alcohol habit she had yet to kick). That's where a desperate and ever charming James Potter comes in. Potter obviously doesn't understand the word 'Never' as he continues to try and win over Lily. Seemingly as a last resort, he corners Charlotte and begs her to help him. Not being one to give others false hope, she tells him to shove it where even** _ **lumos**_ **doesn't shine. However a fateful meeting in a darkened library reveals that Potter and Charlotte may have more in common that Charlotte had ever hoped. They fortify a deal which is beneficial to both parties, with one main rule. DO NOT TELL LILY.**

 **Chapter Eight – The tender truth**

Once Sirius and Potter had returned to the table, they both looked sullen and guilty. Sirius was rubbing the back of his neck and Potter was rolling something around in his right hand. They both looked like they were trying to work out what to say, even before they had sat down.

Charlotte knew she had possibly over reacted. It's not like it was their fault exactly, she had excluded herself from her peers for long enough that she had grown to accept that they wouldn't notice she was around any more. It didn't bother her unless someone brought it up. Considering the only person she used to talk to was Lily, and Lily was too self-absorbed to notice if something was wrong, it shouldn't be that surprising that she would suddenly explode with pent up emotions. Charlotte just wished she hadn't embarrassingly done it in front of those four.

"Sorry about before, I truly didn't mean to yell at you all like that," Charlotte said, breaking the silence. Potter and Sirius both looked surprised and she wondered what part of what she said had surprised them.

They both ceased their nervous ticks and instead took to watching her carefully.

"Don't worry about it, it's good to let out a little steam." Potter said, smiling genuinely. "Sorry about Peter though, he doesn't know when to stop."

"It's okay, I'm rather used to it," Charlotte breathed, watching the two boys who exited the pub door. Peter still looked sheepishly guilty but she had apparently patched up things fine with Remus, as he was smiling as he waved back at them before exiting. He was possibly too nice for his own good. Had it of been Charlotte whom one of the four had yelled at, she'd probably hex them then storm out of the pub. Perhaps she should think of that next time she went to verbally abuse someone.

"Err... So I'm not exactly sure where to begin." Potter said with a cough of laughter. "As you can probably tell… Lily isn't exactly a fan of me at the moment."

'Isn't exactly a fan' is a bit of an understatement. Lily practically fantasised about ways to kill the poor sod, and here he was trying to find ways to win the crazy witch over. Charlotte would never understand.

"How about I tell you what you're doing wrong with Lily?" Charlotte suggested holding up her hands in question. Sirius had nodded but Potter looked shocked and rather affronted by her suggestion.

"Wrong?" Potter said with a scoff of laughter, puffing out his chest and sitting higher in his chair. "You are speaking to James potter, I don't go wrong with girls."

"Well obviously you are, otherwise you wouldn't be here with me, now shut up and accept my help."

"Reeeeeow!" Charlotte turned to face the enigmatic boy who was clawing the air with his imaginary paws. He cracked up laughing and Charlotte simply watched him with a bored expression. She wasn't amused.

"Sirius, I still don't know why you've even graced us with your presence. If you could be quiet and make as little noise as humanly possible that would be excellent."

A dramatised pout was all she received in answer and therefore, she chose to ignore him.

"You're approaching her the complete wrong way, perhaps if you were any other boy it would be okay to go up to her and flirt with her, but she already has a bad opinion of you."

"Yeah, she thinks you're creepy," Sirius said with a laugh, leaning back in the seat and crossing his jeaned legs over each other.

"She thinks I'm creepy?" Potter asked dejectedly. Charlotte watched as his face dropped so low she feared he had suddenly been faced by a dementor. She should feel bad, but she was partially surprised that he hadn't noticed by now, how uninviting he seemed around Lily.

Perhaps Charlotte wasn't the best example, but she knew that If she were in Lily's position, she wouldn't give potter a chance either. He might have been trying to seem charming, but really he was coming off as more of a stalker. Following her around all the time and asking her out constantly wasn't a great way to assure a girl that you're mentally stable. Potter also had the disadvantage of having 6 years worth of dislike on Lily's part, that wouldn't just disappear because he managed to be by her side constantly, if anything he had only increase it.

"Err... Not creepy," Charlotte amended biting her lip.

How to describe potters fascination with Lily Evans... Creepy pretty much said it all, however shouldn't exactly tell him that, he already looked like he was on the verge of a shut down when she yelled at him earlier. Obsession hit the marker as well, but Charlotte had a feeling he wouldn't appreciate that label either. "Uncomfortably persistent."

"Damn," Potter moaned, slumping in his seat with a frown. It actually surprised Charlotte that he seemed upset. It wasn't exactly a revelation, he had been after her for quite some time now, and she had never given him the time of day. Why was he so shocked that Lily disliked his persistent attempts?

"That's my boy, making girls uncomfortably persistent until they give in," Sirius said with a laugh, his eyes lit with merriment.

Potter obviously wasn't seeing the funny side of the situation as he glared down at his best friend.

"Oh shut it!" Potter hissed shoving his friend on the shoulder.

"Well first thing, stop following her around like a lost puppy, it's pathetic, like I seriously don't understand how your popular with girls when they see you follow Lily around like that."

This was partially true, but she didn't need either potter or Sirius to know that. She couldn't understand why girls were so eager to be with him when they knew he obviously fancied her sister. In fact it was rather depressing that they would even hang around him the way they did, knowing that he didn't like them in return. It showed flaws in both their character and Potters.

Charlotte could understand, slightly, why they did it however. Captain of the Quidditch team, one of the most popular guys in the school, famous for his and his friends pranks, with the addition of being quite handsome, it wasn't surprising he was such a womaniser.

"Well don't lay it on easy to make me feel less bad, geez," Potter snapped crossing his arms on his chest like the petulant child he was. Immaturity, or at least this kind of immaturity, was unattractive and Charlotte would have to find a way to rid him of his childish behaviour if he ever hoped of having a chance with Lily. Though Lily was too serious for her own good, and needed a little bit of spark and fun in her life, she wouldn't dare even consider going out with someone this callow.

"Oh suck it up potter." Charlotte snapped back, leaning forward so she could look him in the eye. A brow raised at her abrupt address and she sighed. For someone who wanted her sister so bad, and needed her help, he didn't seem to be taking any of this very seriously. "You wanted my help with Lily and that's what I'm doing." _Or at least trying to._

"Alright, alright. Stop being pathetic, awesome." Potter seemed to have snapped out of his annoying behaviour, and was now facing her, leaning forward on his chair.

Charlotte thought back to their charms lesson the other day when she had first met Sirius. They had watched Potter's interaction with Lily for a few moments, and it had been truly pitiful, the entire situation. He hadn't even said anything when she snapped at him, telling him to go away. Obviously, being his usual stubborn self, he ignored her remarks and went on to ask her out. Charlotte had seen her fair share of hexing by Lily, sometimes even being the subject of her wands backlash, and she half expected Lily to hex him right there in charms. Not that it would do anything of course. Potter was like an unwanted mould on the inside of a potion cauldron. No matter how hard you scrubbed, he managed to grow back.

"Currently she can hardly tolerate your presence. You infuriate her with your relentless attempts, Stop those immediately."

"But-"

"Actually...," Charlotte continued, ignoring potters attempts at talking. "Completely ignore her."

"What?"

Charlotte understood his confusion, ignoring someone wasn't exactly the best way at getting their attention, especially when said person would likely enjoy the lack of attention. But this wasn't any girl they needed to convince, this was Lily Evans. Charlotte knew her better than anyone, and knew that she thrives on affirmation. She needed to know she was good at everything, not just from owl results, or essay results. She needed to hear people say how good she was.

All her life she had been told how smart, pretty and strong she was. Her ego was so inflated that the bloody girl would fall apart at the whisper of indifference.

Really it was a perfect plan.

"It will make her curious, wondering why you've suddenly lost interest." Charlotte explained excitedly. She hadn't thought of it yesterday, but there was no way this couldn't work it potters favour. "So instead of coming up to her and talking to her, join the group at the table but don't say a single word to her, avoid her gaze, and if she addresses you, be kind but uninterested."

Charlotte watched Potters expression morph from uncertainty to doubt in such a quick concession that she had barely seen the change. It sounded odd, but it couldn't not work.

"I'm not sure that will work with Lily," Potter said with a sigh. Charlotte went to begin talking but he raised a hand to explain. "I know she is your sister and you've known her longer, but I don't see how she'll fancy me if I ignore her."

'"Potter, honestly," Charlotte said shaking her head, slightly annoyed she had to explain this to someone who had been around more girls than she had. "Girls like to feel important, to be put in the spotlight and made to feel special. If you remove the spotlight from Lily, she'll instantly realise it, and outwardly she'll say she's relieved, but she will be endlessly curious as to why you stopped being so annoying." Hesitantly with a laugh she added, "She's a lot more shallow than you think she is."

"Well I suppose I can try..." Potter said, sending her a pointed glass that suggested he had ignored that last statement on purpose. Whatever. "What if she decides she likes me not being around?"

She probably would at first.

"I have to agree with Charlotte, whenever I've ignored a girl, it's sent her crazy, next minute were snogging in a broom closet." Charlotte turned to face a very smug looking Sirius. He was leaning back in his chair, arms rested behind his head, looking positively chummy.

"Thank you for that insight Sirius, however unnecessary," Charlotte said with a roll of her dark eyes.

'Welcome love.' He replied with a wink. Did he realise that when he winked, it annoyed the hell out of her? If he did, he did it often enough to suggest he only did it for that reason. What a prat.

"Why is it that you seem so smug about it?"

"Likely because I am," He answered with a laugh.

"I mean this in the most delicate way I can say it, is there a girl at Hogwarts you haven't snogged?" Charlotte asked bluntly in the most monotone voice she could. Honestly she didn't really care, anything to get that smug look off his face was worth using against him. Even if she sort of insinuated he was the school's man-whore.

"My dear, that question was as delicate as a bloody dragon. And yes there are, your one of them obviously." His smirk turned devious as his seat swung forward so all four legs were safely on the floor. The sound made her jump in her seat as he quirked a brow, watching Charlotte carefully. He was growing uncomfortable with his staring, and decided if he did it any longer, she'd send a jinx his way. Thankfully (for him) he continued talking. "Unless you want to change that of course?"

Sirius leaned forward until he was a mere few inches away from Charlotte. To make matters worse, he wasn't just smirking anymore, he was full blown smiling at her. Charlotte could appreciate and accept that Sirius black was good looking. When he smirked it made him seem incredibly mysterious and strangely alluring, even to Charlotte. Sure, she didn't get a strange warm feeling in her stomach, but her brain was screaming how good looking he was. Charlotte couldn't believe that any girl could deny his looks, even if they didn't like him. He was attractive, and that was a fact, not opinion.

However, when Sirius black smiled, everything changed. He looked like the most genuinely happy and approachable person you will ever have the pleasure of meeting. His smile drew you into a sense of comfort, even if you didn't understand why. His stormy eyes which always seemed never-ending chaotic, stilled to a quiet peace and you found yourself smiling in response.

Charlotte had never felt so at ease around someone as she had with Sirius over the past few days. She'd felt cautious when he managed to approach all the gruesome topics she had never wished to share, but still, she had trusted him and told him anyway. Charlotte hadn't ever felt this way about Lily, and she was her twin!

Charlotte liked Sirius, and had from the smart. His confidence, ego and sarcastic nature hadn't bothered her like it would most. She found him funny, nice and easy to talk to, though somewhat inappropriate at times. Charlotte didn't exactly know what to feel when Sirius flirted with her, as he was the first to ever try. She knew she didn't feel annoyed, so could that possibly mean that she... Fancied him?

Charlotte blushed deeply at the thought and quickly darted her eyes away from Sirius who was still watching her intently with a wide genuine smile. She COULD NOT fancy Sirius black. She barely knew him and certainly hadn't known him long enough to have any of those sort of feelings. It seemed silly, even as just a thought. Not to mention that Sirius would never fancy her anyway, after all, Sirius does not date.

Charlotte realised that she had taken far too long to answer his request as he was already sitting back in his seat, watching her with a raised brow, thankfully a smirk replacing the smile that had been there before. She hoped her cheeks weren't still red, as he no doubt would take that as an answer unless she said otherwise.

"Never in your life Sirius black." Charlotte answered after the overtly long wait. Sirius chuckled quietly at her answer but didn't say anything else. Charlotte was now seriously worried that he taken her long silence to heart.

"Ah... Ahem... Is that all?" Potter interjected, both likely uncomfortable and uninterested in the conversation topic. Charlotte had almost forgotten about his presence while considering Sirius and she now felt as uncomfortable as he looked. He had, after all, seen her reaction to Sirius' question as well. If only they knew why a question so forward would make her flushed and uncomfortable then maybe they wouldn't question it.

After being ignored by boys for over 6 years, and not caring for their attention earlier, an offering to snog one of the best looking boys she had ever met, wasn't exactly normal or every day occurrence for Charlotte. Why, she didn't even know how to flirt with a boy, no wonder her face was always so red whenever Sirius made suggestive comments. Charlotte realised she was silent again, and was still thinking on Sirius' offer. By the looks on Potter and Sirius' faces, they obviously assumed she was aswell.

"Of course not, I'd likely be able to write a longer list than the homework we are given, filled with all the things you're doing wrong with Lily." She was being rather harsh, but she wanted to direct their attention on something other than her clear embarrassment and the blush on her cheeks that didn't seem to be disappearing.

Charlotte knew she was no pretty blusher either. Lily had the porcelain skin and a slight blush always seemed to make her prettier, however on charlotte's more olive skin which she had inherited from her father, a blush always came out bright, covering her cheeks ears and nose. There was no way of Charlotte hiding a blush, and she knew that unlike her sister, it wasn't a good look.

"You don't have to be so bloody blunt about it you know," Potter mumbled crossing his arms on his chest. Charlotte had to actually stop herself from rolling her eyes at his immaturity, he honestly looked like a five year old. What was it with Potter and pouting like a baby.

"Potter, how long have you been doting on my sister?" Charlotte asked with a sigh.

"Fair point."He had taken it as a rhetorical question, or at least was too embarrassed to give an honest answer. By the slight pinking on his ears, she assumed it was due to embarrassment. She smiled her approval of his answer.

She had taken an hour or two after classes in the library to think over exactly what he was doing wrong with Lily, and ways he could fix it in her eyes. The ignoring her until she notices was just a small fraction of her shameless plan to get her sister to like potter. Considering he had been doing everything wrong for several years, it would be no easy job and the many things he had been doing it wrong over the 6 years at Hogwarts was no easy fix..

For starters, he was a bit of a righteous git in their younger years and with the assistance of Sirius, had taken to pestering lily's best friend at the time, Severus Snape. Their teasing had always seemed harmless, but when it hadn't stopped years afterwards and had grown to the escalation of hexing and embarrassing public pranks, it was no longer funny. Charlotte wasn't an idiot, she knew Severus was not a pleasant boy, in fact even before the incident back in fifth year, he was rather rude to everyone besides Lily, even if you were nice to him. Charlotte had always attempted to be kind, and had offered to help in any way she could, concerning the bullying, but he would brush her off like a leach.

Obviously she had stopped helping him after he called her a 'no good mudblood, who everyone pretends is invisible because the world is better off that way.' Charlotte knew he had only said it because he was surrounded by the Slytherin cronies who would no doubt cast him out if he hadn't said otherwise. He had taken the insult on a whole new personal level that she couldn't possibly ignore. She had been called a mudblood before, but what he had said was more hurtful than she cared to admit.

Potter couldn't possibly take back the 6 years of bullying and the resentment Lily held because of it. The damage was already done, and it had been what Lily had first recognised in Potter, his obvious dislike for her best friend. Charlotte could easily tell that if he suddenly acted nice or at the very least cordial towards Severus, Lily would be suspicious. It was going to be a long, slow and gruelling process. Charlotte resented that she had to be a part of it.

"For the moment, I want you to be nice to me."

Her idea was possibly far fetched and could just as easily work against potter. if it did work, Lilly's opinion of potter would definitely improve. It was no secret that Charlotte and Lily were in the odds at the moment, however Charlotte knew that her sister cared about her. She hated that Charlotte didn't have any friends, whether it was because it meant she was often with her, or because Charlotte was always lonely was anyone's guess. Either way, Lily would be ecstatic if Charlotte seemed less friendless than she was now, and her opinion of Potter would improve somewhat if he was the one who saw to this change.

"Am I not already?" Potter asked slowly, eyes wide and alarmed. He actually seemed somewhat concerned. It had been a genuine question, no sarcasm or hidden agenda behind the words. He was actually worried that he hadn't been nice to Charlotte. If Charlotte hadn't just suggested he be friends with her in the hopes of being closer to Lily, she might actually be touched by his concern. As it was she could hardly tell if he was worried for lily's sake or Charlotte's.

"No I mean, make an effort to be my friend," Charlotte explained. It obviously hadn't helped much, as potter still looked confused and worried. Even more so when he ran his hand through his wavy mop of hair. How was it that his hair was so messy, yet he could easily run a hand through his hair? If Charlotte even attempted to do anything of the sort, she'd find herself having to cut away the hair which strangled her fingers like a noose.

Charlotte almost laughed in surprise upon the realisation that she was actually jealous of Potters messy hair.

"How will that effect Lily's opinion of me?"

Right, stop thinking about his hair and focus on the current topic.

"Well obviously she will see you being kind to her sister who doesn't have any other friends." Sirius spoke before Charlotte had the chance to, and once finished he sent a wink her way. What had that been, the 50th time he had winked at her today? Annoying git.

"What he said, though the friend bit was rather unnecessary." She pointed out, now facing Sirius with her arms crossed. Her friendless issue was rather obvious, though she'd prefer it was spoken aloud. She certainly had no wish to discuss it.

"Likely as necessary as asking if I snogged every girl in Hogwarts," He remarked sarcastically with a brow raised.

 _Oh, so that's how it is huh?_

"True enough," she replied honestly with a shrug turning back to Potter who was simply watching them with a brow raised sceptically. Charlotte had taken Sirius' comment as a challenge. Though she didn't know exactly what he was challenging her with, she took it in stride none the less.

Charlotte had only ever really challenged her sister, so it may actually be, dare she think, fun.

"Okay, easily done," Potter said with a sigh, rolling his eyes at their flirting. Was that what it was, flirting? It didn't feel like flirting... Then again, she'd never flirted with anyone. She had just been talking to him normally.

"Also, start doing your homework," Charlotte added with a cheeky smirk. Lily was studious, and seemed to find that attractive in the opposite gender, although Charlotte had no idea why personally. Then again, she was only as smart as she was because she wanted to beat her sister in everything so badly.

"Excuse me?"

"Homework, it's the thing we get after almost all our lessons, generally there is an expected time where your mea-"

"Yeah yeah I get it smart ass. I do, do my homework," Potter interjected, his hand raised and eyes furrowed. Charlotte rolled her eyes at his lie. She had been in his class for 6 years, she knew he hardly ever handed in his own work. Godric, he had gotten numerous detentions just this week for not completing or duplicating a students work.

"Copying Moony's doesn't count!" Sirius said through laughter.

"Your one to talk, I at least do most of mine before looking at Moony's. You don't even bloody start yours!" Potter countered, crossing his damn arms against his bloody chest again. Charlotte really had to get him to stop doing that.

"You and I both know that I don't need to do homework, I'm a naturally fantastic wizard." Potter scoffed loudly at Sirius' boast and in return his friend hit his shoulder with his fist. Somehow it ended up with potter's arm swung around Sirius in a headlock, the both of them laughing loudly. Another bonding moment apparently.

Charlotte was a little lost. Who or what was Moony and what did it have to do with anything?

"Sorry... Moony?"

"Remus," Potter amended without even glancing her way, his arm still firmly wrapped around Sirius' neck.

"Godric what is wrong with you all and nicknames," Charlotte mumbled. Prongs, Padfoot, Wormtail and Moony. Bloody ridiculous names. They are absolutely loony if they actually believed those names were normal.

"Moony is a perfectly acceptable nickname!" Sirius had apparently heard her and declared it loudly, once he managed to release himself from potters hold.

"Okay 'Padfoot'," Charlotte said sarcastically , sending a fake grin his way. Who the hell calls someone Padfoot. She mostly heard the school's population call him either Black or Sirius, preferably Sirius, since his falling out with his family.

"You don't have the privilege of calling me that yet love," Sirius answered mockingly, giving her a wink.

"Whatever." She grumbled, scuffing the toe of her shoe against the floor. No it didn't bother he that she couldn't call him that, it bothered her that she didn't know why he was called that.

"So is that all?" Potter asked, hands clasped together expectantly.

"For the moment yes." Charlotte sighed and rubbed her eyes which were struggling to stay open. What time was it? "When we meet the following Tuesday, we'll see what's changed."

Charlotte couldn't imagine too many drastic changes, but she at least hoped Lily would notice his change. She was more excited about Thursday night, when they would discuss Potter's part of the deal.

"So... You want me to ignore Lily, be nice to you, and do homework?" He asked slowly. That was a rather simple way of summarising all that they had spoken of, but she was thankful he at least got the gist of what she suggested.

"Yes."

"Riiiiiiight," Potter said uncertainly.

"know what I'm talking about _jamesey_ " Charlotte drooled sarcastically noting his instant change in mood to her appointed nickname.

"Err... Jamesey?" Sirius asked with a cough of laughter and eyes widened, looking between Charlotte and potter.

"And you say we are bad at nicknames," Potter said with a disappointed sigh shaking his head slowly.

 _Oh come on. It wasn't that bad._

"Well considering I have such a horrid nickname, I should give you one of equal value." Charlotte's explanation was ignored by Sirius who looked at Potter with a smirk and curious glint in his stormy eyes.

"What is it?"

"Don't you dare," Charlotte whispered threateningly, pointing a finger at a very mischievous looking Potter.

"Lottie, her nickname is Lottie." Potter said with a laugh after running his hand through his dark hair, which just flipped back into his eyesight.

Charlotte groaned loudly, regretting she had told him the blasted name Lily came up with.

"That's not too bad. We could definitely give you a good one, but it will have to wait."

Not too bad? It was a horrid nickname! She blamed her parents however for giving her a name which regretfully had no good pet names other than 'Lottie'. Charlotte shuddered at the thought of the name. Not only did it make her sound like a 3 year old, but it was Lily who had begun calling her it. That was enough of a reason to dislike it.

Sirius had said they could give her a 'good' nickname. Considering their nicknames were as odd as they came, Charlotte seriously wondered their definition of good.

"Not that I want a weird nickname, but what exactly am I waiting for?" She asked with a sigh.

"Secret"

Of course.

"I guess that's all then?" Charlotte asked hopefully. She still had an essay to finish, and wanted to get in a small amount of practise with her corporeal patronus. She wasn't hopefully that it would help, but she couldn't stand the thought of all the four Gryffindor boys knowing she couldn't cast it when they could themselves. It seemed... Degrading.

"Uh.. Before we go Charlotte?" Charlotte looked at a very hesitant and nervous Potter. He was rolling something in his hand again, and his hand kept reaching up to brush his hair out of his eyes. If he didn't stop with the hair brushing, she would just cut that damn fringe off.

"Yes?" Charlotte answered slowly.

"Why was Lily adamant that you couldn't go to the party,"

"What?" Charlotte said with a frown.

"The other night at dinner, she kept saying you shouldn't go cause it was a bad idea," he clarified biting his lip. Charlotte had known what he was talking about, but had given him the opportunity to amend his mistake and pass off the question.

'Yes, well my bloody perfect sister needs to keep her head out of my business.'

"Charlotte..." Potter began, frowning deeply.

"Potter, don't," Charlotte ground out, leaning across the small table and pointing towards the boy with dark messy hair and glasses. Charlotte was not overly intimidating, but when it came to people putting their noses in her private business, she could be darn right menacing. It showed on both Potters and Sirius' faces. Each held the same looks of surprise and alarm. "Not only is it none of her business, but it's none of yours either."

"James I wouldn't interfere in sisterly feuds," Sirius murmured, leaning close to his friend so their shoulders were touching. They both watched Charlotte with the same wide eyed expression.

"Okay, I'll butt out," he responded with a quick nod of his head. Charlotte sighed and leant back from the table. Once again she lost her temper in front of these two ingrates. Charlotte hoped it didn't become a habit.

"We should probably go, I'd rather not get caught being out of the grounds this late at night."

"We would never get caught," Sirius said nonchalantly with a shrug of his wife shoulders.

"And I'm just supposed to trust that statement?" Charlotte asked

"No, not at all," Sirius said with a smirk.

"Your supposed to trust us." Potter winked and Charlotte rolled her eyes.

"You haven't exactly given me a reason to yet." Charlotte said pointedly. 'While I'm on the topic of trust and honesty, potter if you ever send your dog to emotionally blackmail me again ill make damn sure that you never have a chance with my sister. Kapiche?"

Potter had obviously thought something she said was funny, as he was struggling to contain his laughter. Steam was practically escaping his ears and he had a hand covering his mouth. Sirius however, had furrowed brows and was frowning.

"I already told you it wasn't emotio-"

"And I've already told you, you're an idiot and full of yourself," Charlotte snapped. Realising she was being a tad harsh, AGAIN, she took a breathe, mentally calming herself. "I refuse to help you unless we are honest. Considering we will be doing some hardcore transfiguration, that i could die from, mind you, id highly appreciate it if we could cut the bull."

Both boys with equally messy hair and total opposite eye colours watched her with the exact same expression of understanding. They looked at each other nodded, then looked back at Charlotte who was watching them both with a quirked brow

"Alright Charlotte, no bullshit," Potter answered for the both of them. He looked genuine, and Charlotte smiled from relief.

"Fantastic, am i to assume we are meeting here Thursday as well?"

"Definitely not." Potter said with a scoff

"What kind of wizards do you take us for?" Sirius rebuffed with a mock shocked expression.

"Uhh… idiots?" Charlotte answered with a smirk.

"Charlotte… and to think we were friends" potter said slowly, shaking his head looking crestfallen.

"ah hah hah hah," Sarcasm always seemed to work well when she didn't know what to say, and her sarcastic laugh had saved her from having to point out they were only friends because he had a certain unhealthy obsession with her sister. "So where then?"

"Well, I just so happen to know a spare room that we shall be using for the time being" Potter answered triumphantly with a wide grin. Honestly, Charlotte didn't really care where they met, as long as they did meet and she finally got some advice on her Animagus study.

He'd study of the book had been somewhat of a failure. So far she had only decrypted 3 pages and it hadn't given her the faintest idea of actually turning Animagi. It was mainly a hell of a lot of warnings and 'what not to do's'. So far it was useless. She would gladly keep reading if it wasn't so hard to understand and if it didn't take so bloody long to convert into modern language.

"Lovely," Charlotte said with a weary sigh. She had had enough of talking, and was quite ready to go back to Hogwarts, and hopefully straight into her bed. She could practically hear it's siren-like call from where she was sitting. "Can we leave now?"

"Charlotte, are you worried?" Potter asked with an amused smile. Charlotte was anything but amused. Of course she was worried. If they got caught out of school , however late at night, they could easily be suspended or worse. Expelled.

"And what if i am Potter?" Charlotte said with a sigh and shrug of her shoulders. She was now too tired to bother with his goading. "I don't want to get into trouble."

"Here's your drinks loves, sorry it took so long." A woman said kindly approaching the table with a tray and lots of glasses bundled on it.

"Well, shit." Charlotte said looking over all the drinks. Remus and Peter hadn't stayed for theirs, so between the the 3 of them, they had 6 shots of firewhiskey and 4 butter beers to drown before they could leave. Charlotte insisted on paying considering she would likely drink most of it anyway, and handed the woman 2 galleons and 11 sickles, ignoring the complaints of the boys.

"Looks like we are staying a tad longer," potter said with a cheeky smile, taking three shot glasses in one hand and putting them in front of Charlotte and the other three in front of Sirius. He turned to Charlotte and pointed at the shots, noticing her annoyed and regretful stare at the alcohol before her. "I believe those are yours?"

Charlotte just wanted to leave already but knew potter and Sirius would happily stay as long as their tiny hearts desired, thinking it funny that Charlotte was worried about being caught. She would just apparated back to the clearing near the Hogwarts passageway, except, she didn't want to. It had been bad enough apparating with Sirius, there was no was she could do it alone. Charlotte frowned deeply, looking at all they had to induce before they would leave. It wouldn't take her long to down her shots, but seeing as her body wasn't used to firewhiskey after her long separation with the drink, the faster she drank it, the more drunk she would become. Even if she managed to take her shots easily, there was still the problem of Sirius' and the 3 butterbeers.

With a regretful sigh and a voice in her head telling her not to do anything reckless, she decided to speed things up. Just a little bit.

In quick succession, she downed her three shots of firewhiskey and leant over the table, grabbing Sirius' shots as well. Only a second later they were also gone. The first two shots she had felt the familiar burn down her throat but by the fifth the drink had swam down a numb throat where it sat uncomfortably in an empty belly. She didn't bother with the butterbeers as she'd likely vomit out everything if she even tried to take in that much alcohol in one go.

Potter and Sirius had watched her with eyes like saucers and mouths gaped open. They hadn't even attempted to stop her as she took Sirius' shots as well, in fact it hadn't even registered that she had taken them, not to Sirius anyway.

"Done, can we go?" That didn't sound right. Her voice was all croaky and mixed up. Oh bollocks. Perhaps having all that wasn't such the best idea that had ever popped into Charlotte's lovely mind. She hadn't really thought about why it would do, she just did it. And Lily said she was hardly a Gryffindor _HMPH_.

"They were mine!" Sirius cried, suddenly noticing his own lack of drinks after Charlotte's escapade.

"Charlotte don't you think that was a tad silly? drinking all that...that fast?" Did he... Aww he looked worried. Charlotte smiled at the thought. Unless he was judging her again. That wasn't cute at all.

"Potter, when I ask your opinion I'll want it.' Charlotte declared, pointing her finger at a very tall Potter, ' _was he always that tall?'_ who suddenly began to swirl slightly in her vision. Had she meant to say that, like that? "Wait, that came out wrong."

"Good Gordic, let's get her back paddy." Paddy? Oh that's a good one. She'd have to call Sirius that as well now.

"Yeah, good idea."

"You're quite possibly the bestest friends I've ever had, not counting lily of course. You can't count her, she was in the same womb as me. Did you know we are brothers ?" Charlotte thought over what she said and shrugged at her mistake. They knew what she meant.

"Bloody bonkers."

"Come on Charlotte, can you walk?" Potter was holding onto her left arm at her side as she struggled to stand up. She felt all light and bubbly. Like a bubble.

"Course I can Potter, I can also fly. I'm a bloody witch for Godric's sake!" Charlotte took a step towards… somewhere, and instantly her leg fell under her and she slumped to the ground. Distantly she felt herself being picked up and she instantly recognised the smell of the one who carried her. All woody and leafy. Like a tree. "What is it that you do in the forbidden forest?"

Potter always smelled like the forest. Maybe he had a pet who went for walks. Maybe he walked said pet, in the forbidden forest. Now why would he do that? Didn't he know it was dangerous?

"Wh...what?" Potter asked, eyes wide and alarmed. Charlotte smiled up at him. They were so close, and she could see the hazel in his eyes. If she was any closer, she just might fall into those eyes. They were so lovely.

"You always smell of the forest and Godric it smells amazing." Charlotte said truthfully, nuzzling her head into his neck again and smelling the fragrance that was so distinctly him.

"Fancy a walk often? I personally never liked the forest," she said with a sigh, closing her eyes.

Forests had all sorts of scary and mythical animals in them. She heard that a werewolf was sighted in there once, but that was just a rumour. They would never allow a wolf so close to Hogwarts. Headmaster Dumbledore was smart like that.

"I've got her, you get the door alright?" Potter spoke, nudging his friend who stepped in front of him to hold open the door.

"Yeah, come on."

"I find this inappropriate." Charlotte muttered, her face sitting numb against Potter's shoulder which provided a nice cushion for her absent mind. Usually she would push to get out of his arms, but she could hardly feel her own arms, and she was fairly certain that she was starting to dribble on Potter's nice white shirt. Not a nice look.

Other than the apparation a few hours ago, this was the closest she'd ever gotten to another boy, and it wasn't through consent. He hadn't asked to carry her had he? Should she be worried? Could this be considered sexual assault?

"Charlotte, I'm just carrying you because you couldn't stand straight." Charlotte looked up into his face, and moved a hand up to push his hair out of his eyes, his eyes glanced down to meet hers for a moment, but darted back.

His explanation confused her and she frowned into his shoulder.

"Why can't I stand? I have legs don't I? Or did they disappear?" As far as Charlotte knew, her legs were fine, they were working perfectly alright just a moment ago, and she didn't think it should warrant Potter to hold her like this, as though she couldn't walk.

"Charlotte, your legs are fine, you drank all 6 shots of firewhiskey love, your a little drunk" Sirius said to her side.

Her eyes widened and she realised with a panic that what she had done had been a very stupid thing to do. Stupid thing indeed.

"James, Sirius. You cannot let Lily see my like this." Charlotte said fervently. Her vision kept switching between swirls and normalness and thankfully went back to one image for a moment, long enough that should could give horrified stares to the two boys who were looking at her confused. "You have to promise, swear solemnly that you won't let her see me"

"Why Charlotte?" Potter asked, struggling to hold onto Charlotte in his arms who began to struggle to get out of them immediately. She needed to explain that she couldn't go back, not like this, not with lily. Why wasn't he letting go of her, she would be fine if he just let go.

Maybe she could stay and sleep around the village somewhere. Perhaps in an abandoned house or something. But she couldn't go back to Hogwarts, not like this. Not when she had alcohol, not when lily would...

With one hard shove against potter's chest, he let go of her legs and she felt herself standing on jelly. She gripped into potter for help, focusing on his hazel eyes which looked worried.

"I don't want to leave, I don't want to leave... No Hogwarts means no magic, no magic means Muggle, I don't want to be a Muggle. Muggles have to get horrid jobs where they do things without magic and MERLIN I don't think I can!" Charlotte cried, gripping him tighter and imploring him with her own dark eyes which quickly had filled with tears. She hoped he would understand. Had she explained it right ?

"Charlotte, you're not going to be a Muggle." Sirius said, grabbing her face so she would stop babbling. Her eyesight was horrid, but she could still see the stormy grey swell and it calmed her instantly. His hands were warm and her ice cold cheeks appreciated his warmth instantly.

"Do you promise?' Charlotte whispered, looking from both Potter hazel eyes and Sirius' stormy pair. She could trust them right?

"We solemnly swear."

Charlotte deflated and slumped to the ground with relief. They were good with their solemness and their promise had been enough for her. Potter picked her up again and after a bright light, she felt weightless in his arms as he carried her.

"Good, I've always liked being a witch. Seemed right." Charlotte mumbled, resting her head against his hard chest again. The same smell that she had recognized earlier was still dancing around him and she drank it in easily, noting it calmed her anxiety. There was also mint, perhaps his toothpaste?

"You smell really nice. Rather good combination honestly. Makes me want to take a walk myself, maybe we can go walking sometime. Yeah a nice walk in the forest with my..." _Yawn_. "...two buddies.'

~ 3rd Person ~ James Potter. POV

"She still asleep?" Sirius asked once they made it through the painting to Gryffindor tower, the invisibility cloak draped over Charlotte's suspended form just behind them.

It had been a lot harder than both James and Sirius had thought it would be, Carrying Charlotte back through the passage and up the stairs to Gryffindor tower. For one, they had to use a weight charm so that James could carry her easier. She wasn't that heavy, but heavy enough that he couldn't possibly carry her the whole way without struggling. She was practically the same height as both James and Sirius so it wasn't all that surprising that they may struggle.

Carrying her through Hogsmeade had been easy, other than the few odd stares they got. James wasn't surprised, if he saw two men carrying an unconscious girl he would think it rather suspicious also. Apparating back to the Hogwarts passageway had also been easy, much easier than when she had been conscious and on the verge of vomiting.

It had been difficult, however, to fit her through the small doorway and down the wall. After a heated discussion, they had decided on levitating her through the hole and down the wall. Hopefully she wouldn't realise the bruise on her forehead where they had accidentally bashed it against the doorway. Even if she did, James would blame it on Sirius, Bloody idiot hadn't been at all focused while they were levitating her.

The long walk through the passageway was easy, and Sirius had opted to carry Charlotte this time. The sight of them was rather ridiculous.

Charlotte's long dark blonde hair was in its usual knotted mess hanging down her back and her face was rather void of her usual blush. She however looked peaceful with her head against Sirius' chest and every now and then murmured in her sleep and snuggled against his shirt. Sirius was however looking rather uncomfortable with the situation. James couldn't work out why, considering he should be rather used to the affections from women by now. Sirius kept sending worried glances down towards the lump in his arms and every now and then picked up their pace down the passageway.

Getting her through the castle was another matter. Usually they would just share James' invisibility cloak, but considering she had to either be held, levitated or thrown over the two's shoulders, it limited their options. They eventually decided on Throwing the cloak over both Sirius and Charlotte until they came to the moving staircase, where they would levitate her and the cloak up and into the Gryffindor common room.

Every few seconds, James glanced to the place where he knew Sirius and Charlotte were, and back towards the map in his hands. It didn't take long to travel to the grand staircase, avoiding the prefects and teachers who roamed about the castle late at night.

It took some time, a good amount of charm and a few white lies for the fat lady to open up the painting to Gryffindor common room. James had checked before hand and no one had been waiting in the common room. Unsurprising since it was almost 2 am and even the students who stayed up the latest had long gone to bed.

The common room was quiet and thankfully devoid of life as James levitated Charlotte's sleeping form onto the lounge, pulling back the cloak so that her face was visible. Apparently since they had first began carrying her, she had gained some of the colour in her face and looked far more relaxed than when she first passed out.

"Yeah I think so," James said softly in answer, kneeling next to the lounge to look over Charlotte carefully. He knew she wouldn't like how close he was getting, but she was unconscious, so its not like she would ever know.

James had taken a liking to the sister of Lily, even if she was lacking so much of what he cared about in her counterpart. He admired her intelligence and couldn't deny that she would have to be equally as smart as both Lily and Remus. She didn't trust easily, and instead made you work to earn it. She was insanely curious and didn't like not knowing something. Charlotte also happened to be sarcastic and witty, which made banter and small talk enjoyable.

At first, he had been curious to why he had never known of her existence. Surely, in the 6 years they had shared a class, he should have at least spoken to her once. James wasn't one to ignore the presence of a student and he should have especially known about her considering she was Lily's twin.

To be truly honest, when he had gone to Lily's best friend Alice Longbottom for advice, and she blew him off, telling him to ask her sister Charlotte instead, he had thought she was joking. Though when he consulted the map, and had found a Charlotte A Evans sitting alone in the great hall the morning after their Quidditch win, he had immediately sought out her help. He hadn't even thought to be confused by when he had never seen or heard of her before that day, and the more he thought about it, the more suspicious and odd it really was.

His first impression of her was that she as the complete opposite of his darling lily. She hadn't been nice, though lily had never been nice to him either, she was sarcastic, intimidating and was seemingly surprised that he had spoken to her. Charlotte had rebuffed his and Sirius' attempts at persuasion and had only accepted to help him once he had something to offer her.

To be fair, when he had first seen the Animagus book in her hands in the restricted section, he had thought she had discovered the marauders secret. His first instinct was to reluctantly obliviate her, knowing that he would get an earful from Remus about it later, but then she had acted so worried and cautious about the topic. It seemed too perfect that the one thing he and the boys would know a lot about was something she apparently knew nothing about. She was obviously reluctant to help him with lily, though not for the obvious reason that lily wouldn't like it. She didn't trust him, that had been obvious from the start, and apparently sharing bits about her with the marauders had not helped him in that district.

James couldn't understand what Charlotte had against Lily, at times she seemed fond of her sister, then other days she acted as though all the troubles in the world were Lily's fault and hers alone. The night Lily and Charlotte had fought about Remus' party, he had watched the entire scene in utter surprise. The only person he had ever heard lily speak to the way she spoke to charlotte was himself, and not even then had she been as aggressive and dominating.

They obviously had a fractured relationship, and that would either make it easier or harder to win lily over. Perhaps he could somehow bring the two girls closer and win Lily's affection that way. Charlotte had seemed to know what she was talking about earlier, even if her methods were somewhat odd. He supposed he would simply have to trust the girl with hair somehow as messy as his, and eyes dramatically opposite to lily's.

"What the hell was she going on about, raving mad this girl is!" Sirius' loud whispering brought James out of his thought pattern and he turned to see his friend kneeling beside him, watching Charlotte with an unreadable expression.

Charlotte had been blabbering incoherently about muggles and hogwarts and her detestment for muggles jobs. James couldn't understand what that had to do with Lily seeing her drunk, but for a few moments she had seem struck in fear. She had obviously still been drunk, but the fear was true and real in her eyes.

"I don't know, but maybe we should let her sleep in our dorm tonight," James whispered, turning to meet the eyes of his friend who looked doubtful, no doubt as worried as he about what she had said.

James would never usually suggest a girl stay in their room for the night, not that it hadn't happened. The girls that usually entered and exited their dorm generally didn't stay the night as was their rule. Charlotte wasn't just any girl though. She was their friend and James had come to think of her as a sister considering she was Lily's twin. He'd always wanted siblings and James had long since considered Sirius to be his surrogate brother, even before Sirius had come to live with the potters. The thought of a sister as well, sent a swirl of warmth in his stomach, and made him smile without realising. Perhaps Charlotte was overly sarcastic, did things without thinking (made obvious by her unconscious state on the lounge) and didn't trust him, but James already liked her and would do his best to earn her trust.

James didn't know what Sirius thought of her, but knew that he wasn't the only one who was fond of Charlotte. He had told James after he approached her in class, that he liked her. Though with Sirius, that could mean anything. Considering he was showing care with her now, it was fairly safe to say he liked her on a higher level than he generally liked other girls. Again, that could also mean anything. Either way, Sirius approved of her. That said, James would protect her in any way he could, even if it meant they break a rule. A rule other than school rules of course, because they had already broken several just that night.

"But we have a no girls in dorm rule, marauders code," Sirius said with a sigh shaking his head. The marauders weren't ones for following rules. Well, perhaps excepting their academic genius Lupin, but after a few years even he was far more lenient that he used to be. They took their marauders code very seriously, as it was a pact between friends, best friends, brothers. Both Sirius and James were loyal to the code without fault, and only a few times had they broken one of their rules, but it was always through the group's consideration and debate. Never did they break the marauders code for the fun of it. Thats what Hogwarts rules are for.

"Sirius, it's just one night. You saw how upset she was," James whispered, nudging his friends shoulder with his own. He could see that Sirius was losing his resolve easily as he watched the sleeping girl on the lounge.

"One night."

"One night." James smiled and pulled his friend up so they were both standing. "And if were going to talk about that particular rule, we could bring up all the gi-"

"Oh shut it prongsy, your just as bad as i am," Sirius interrupted with a laugh, swinging an arm around James' shoulders and tugging him down so he could rub his head with his fist.

James wasn't nearly as bad as Sirius, and they both knew it. Both James and Sirius were considered the studs of the school, and many girls in their year and years above and below had taken attempts to be noticed by the school's best looking bachelors. Over the years it had inflated their egos and confidence and Remus often made fun of the two of them. It hadn't been till third, or possibly fourth year that James had begun fancying Lily. There wasn't exactly much that you couldn't like about Lily Evans, yet apparently a lot which you could for James, as she hadn't given him a second glance.

Remus, who had long been friends with lily, said it was because of their teasing or 'bullying' of Snivellus. Though after their falling out in fifth year, James had hoped that Lily would soften up towards him. That had never happened and his relentless attempts to win lily over were always in vain.

"I'm a changed man Padfoot," James declared loudly, wincing when charlotte muttered and moved slightly on the lounge.

"Sure you are." Sirius said with a laugh and eye roll. "I didn't notice it before my DEER prongs, but you do smell rather nice. Been PRANCING around in the forest lately?"

Sirius was obviously referring to Charlotte's comments earlier, and James felt himself pinking against his will.

He had been worried that she would be suspicious about the smell and somehow conclude the reasoning, but she had kept complimenting him on how nice he smelled. Often girls made comments on how odd it was, but Charlotte had told him in her drunken haze that he smelt good. She was surprisingly the first girl that had told him he smelt good. Why was it that he liked the idea that Charlotte thought he smelt good.

He could feel his cheeks burn again. He'd have to remember to get back at Sirius somehow. No way was he getting away with teasing, and GODRIC making him blush, without suffering consequences. He would think about that later, however, as there was still an unconscious Evans on the common room lounge.

"Shut up padfoot, go chew on a bone," James growled, re-adjusting Charlotte on his chest so her head was resting against his shoulder.

He realised with embarrassment that Charlotte had a distinct smell as well, (other than the waft of firewhiskey), one that he had refused to acknowledge earlier when she had been drunk. Merlin help him, he actually liked it.

 **A/N**

 **Hello everyone, I hope you enjoyed the double chapter submission.**

 **I'm not 100% happy with chapter 7, and it will be subject to change. I'll notify you all on my profile where and if I make changes x**

 **I have a few pm's and reviews to respond to, but firstly i'd like to say thankyou. 100% of the reviews have been positive and it is what really keeps me going !**

 **Guest1** **. ~ Thankyou for your praise of Charlotte's character, I try really hard to make her especially distinct. I agree, not where near enough James/OC stories out there!**

 **DaisyField** **~ Yes I'm quite sure it's OC/James, and I get why you think it's Sirius/OC. Sirius is a major flirter and he has taken a certain liking to Charlotte. All will be resolved and revealed soonish (I hope)**

 **Guest2** **. ~ I admire how you caught on. It is a bit suspicious, how people manage to forget Charlotte so often isn't it? Well anyway, I can't exactly spoil the fun and tell you why right now SO you'll just have to stay tuned and wait for an explanation ;)**

 **Guest3** **. ~ Sometimes it's not always that easy. Charlotte has lived her life being compared to her sister by her own family and ignored by the rest of the world. Doing something with her hair or putting makeup on doesn't change the fact that she is Lily Evans sister, it doesn't change anything. Charlotte shouldn't have to be something she is not just so people will like her more. And yes I know the Evans family flower thing, it'll be explained ;)**

 **Nisreenweir07** **. ~ Love, I'm sorry to say that Charlotte doesn't end up with Sirius. They have a few moments, but they don't get together. Sorry to disappoint your shipping, but it AINT gonna happen xx**

 **Guest4** **. ~ Don't you worry, it is a James/OC after all xx**

 **Shoutout to my lovely darling ~ Riddleallofme**

 **Thanks for helping me and listening to my whining all the time ! Couldn't do it without you xx**


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary:**

 **There were many reasons Charlotte was the way she was. Mainly it was her 40 minute older sister Lily Evans. Lily was gorgeous, intelligent, witty and charming. Charlotte was sort of pretty; smart when she tried hard enough, highly sarcastic and unsociable. Charlotte was also virtually invisible behind her sister's stunning shadow. Every year she was in the same classes as her sister, and every year she found herself friendless and slightly more narcissistic than the year earlier. Well, it's their sixth year and Charlotte had long since given up the complexities of friendship in favour of interesting sorts of magic she wondered upon in the restricted section of the school library (and an alcohol habit she had yet to kick). That's where a desperate and ever charming James Potter comes in. Potter obviously doesn't understand the word 'Never' as he continues to try and win over Lily. Seemingly as a last resort, he corners Charlotte and begs her to help him. Not being one to give others false hope, she tells him to shove it where even** _ **lumos**_ **doesn't shine. However a fateful meeting in a darkened library reveals that Potter and Charlotte may have more in common that Charlotte had ever hoped. They fortify a deal which is beneficial to both parties, with one main rule. DO NOT TELL LILY.**

 **Chapter Nine – Potions, Pectorals and Peculiar Problems. (try saying that five times fast)**

By the throbbing in her head, the nausea in her stomach and the sound that reverberated and crashed into her eardrums, Charlotte guessed that she had drank a little more than she had meant to last night. But that didn't make sense; she had only had 3 shots right? Ah no, that's right. She had taken Sirius' shots as well, and possibly even a butterbeer or two.

Her long blonde hair was a matted knot at the nape of her neck and she knew without a doubt that her face wouldn't be too pretty. Alcohol had a way of making Charlotte look like she'd tumbled out of bed into a war against you-know-who. Any semblance of propriety she had completely escaped her when she groaned loudly, shielding her eyes from the light in her dorm.

It was like someone was pointing a lumos directly under her nose, like someone was trying to burn her irises out. Lily was an early riser, so she had been expecting this. Often, back when Lily had not yet found out about her not so perfect sisters drinking problems, Charlotte was awoken by her sister's early antics, and it had been as painful as it was now.

"Mmm twern wright off," She mumbled against her pillow. More sleep. She needed more sleep. And she needed someone to turn the light off.

Charlotte heard some rustling in the room, and footsteps coming over towards her bed. To her ears, it sounded like a cannon being fired behind her head. Lily couldn't way more than 130 pounds so the fact she was making so much noise was only further indication that Charlotte had in fact drank more than she should have.

"Sorry what was that?" A voice asked deafeningly, forcing Charlotte to drag her blanket on her face. Lily came and sat beside her on the bed. She couldn't see Lily, because the blanket was doing a wonderful job of enveloping her in darkness, but she felt the bed dip at her sister's weight.

Lily's voice sounded rather bizarre, far lower and garbled, not like her regular light fluent speech. Charlotte presumed it was the backlash of her bad mistakes, the alcohol still in her system making her feel rather disoriented.

"Light. Turn. It. Off," Charlotte grumbled, pronouncing every word separately, as low and apprehensible as she could make it. She couldn't give Lily any reason to suspect she had drank.

After their rather public disagreement the other night, discovering she had drank would only give Lily further reason to tell her parents, which was far from desirable. Her current headache was however taking precedence over this feeling. All she could really think about was how stupid some of the decisions she made were.

"Hmm... It appears you have a hangover, there are no lights on." Charlotte stilled at Lily's comment. Not only was she aware that she had drank, but her comment was rather a tad sassy for her sister. Since when was Lily such a smart ass?

Lily was many things, but hardly audacious. Lily had even laughed. Lily would never find her drinking humorous. Perhaps Lily was the one who was drunk, and not her. Lily drunk, now there's a funny thought.

"Lily, just... do something about the light." Charlotte sighed and tightened her hold on her blanket, crushing it against her nose so not even a shimmer of light could shine through its threads. More laughing was heard from her sister and Charlotte struggled to find what exactly was so funny about the situation, especially to Lily who seemed to have no sense of humour at times.

"It's not lily love."

"Huh?" Charlotte mumbled and turned in the bed, complaining unintelligibly with a loud groan, as she did, from the blood rush to her brain and the blindingly painful light. Her eyes took awhile to focus on the form just above her, but her eyes widened when they did. They were tall, wide and had shoulder length hair, a cocky smirk and stormy grey eyes.

It wasn't her sister at all.

"Morning love."

There, lounging on the side of her bed, one arm draped on her right side, leaning over her slightly, was a shirtless rugged boy sporting a bedazzling smile. Her brain was struggling to form any clear thoughts as she realised the position she was currently in. Charlotte was snuggled into her sheets and he was only a few centimetres away, his naked chest clearly in her eyesight.

Her eyes quickly took in his appearance, and took it in a little more. For moments she sat taking in all that was before her. She was certainly blushing now. He had a very built body, one that had her dark blue eyes struggling to move from.

"See something you like gorgeous?" he asked in a deep throaty voice, his chest trembling from a low rumble of laughter. Charlotte's cheeks once again pinked as she forced her eyes away from the boy in front of her mortification settling into her bones. Charlotte had been caught gawking at the boy.

She was embarrassed, but really, what in Merlin's name was he doing on her bed, shirtless of all things. Her innocently unexperienced mind blushed at the thought of a half naked boy sitting over her in bed. But this wasn't just any boy, and she hadn't invited him in her room, and he shouldn't be there. Really she was just freaking out.

"MERLIN'S BALLS SIRIUS!" Charlotte cried. In her surprise she had shoved her hands against his bare chest to push him off and away from her. Of course her hands had taken the brunt of her jab as they pounded against his hardened muscle. Still she managed to somehow unbalance him. He landed as a heap on the floor with a loud thud, and though it likely had hurt, he was still managing to laugh. It wasn't Sirius' usual loud 'bark', it was low and Charlotte had to fight against the urge to jump out of the bed and beat him with her lamp.

He was in her dorm, sitting on her bed SHIRTLESS and he has the gall to laugh.

"What the bloody hell are you doing in my dorm! WHERE IS YOUR SHIRT!"

She wasn't exactly complaining about his lack of shirt, it just made her a little flushed and embarrassed. Where the hell was she meant to look when all that she could really see was his well formed stomach? What's more embarrassing, he was the first boy she had ever seen half undressed. Her eyes seemed to be permanently glued to him on the floor until a voice called her out from her trance.

"Charlotte?"

Charlotte's eyes travelled to her right, towards the bathroom and stilled instantly when she saw Potter. Charlotte's eyes crept down and… Oh Godric.

Potter was standing in the doorway with only a towel wrapped around his bottom half, dangerously low. Like, majorly dangerously low. His entire chest, stomach and... Lower stomach was completely uncovered, the towel only just stopping just below his pronounced hip bones. Water dribbled down from his dark mop of hair that clung to his forehead and neck, down towards his chest and Charlotte found it oddly transfixing, the sight of droplets dragging down like that.

She tried to look away, as best as she could anyway. Instead she found her eyes roaming almost every inch of his uncovered skin. Godric, she was such a pervert.

Charlotte had never had a boyfriend, nor did she have a brother. The most she has seen of the male body was a few model shots she had seen in witch weekly once, and it had been so uncomfortable she had turned away immediately.

That being said, she has nothing to compare Potters physique with, other than his best friend, so he was practically the best looking male she had ever seen. His muscles were toned, the kind of toned that made you wonder whether he secretly snuck out at night to work out somehow. He wasn't dramatically muscled, but the amount he had framed his build so well.

Charlotte was aware that she was staring; in fact she was incredibly aware of how everyone in the room noticed she was staring. Even more so where she was staring and how red her face was as she was staring, and the gaping of her mouth whilst staring. Charlotte was thankful that Potter probably didn't mind being visually admired, he was probably used to it by now. She somehow understood now more than ever, why girls flocked around the Quidditch pitch during practise. In the span of 2 minutes, she had seen the Captain and Beater of the team half naked. That was every girl in bloody Hogwarts' dream.

The type of embarrassment she was facing now was nothing she had ever experienced. She was practically ogling Potter in front of other boys! Talk about an awkward situation! She hadn't even stared at Sirius this long, and he was about as naked as Potter was. Oh Godric. Potter was naked. He was standing before her, covering his body with only a small dorm issued Gryffindor towel that was sitting on his hips lazily. A bright neon sign appeared in her mind screaming NAKED, forcing her to finally pull herself out of the reverie.

"WHY DO YOU HAVE NO CLOTHES ON POTTER!" Charlotte screeched covering her eyes. It was too late, the damage was done. Forever she would have that image engraved in the back of her mind labelled 'the first boy you ever saw almost-naked.' It likely wouldn't have been that big a deal if she wasn't so embarrassed and hadn't stared at his body for so long. Hadn't she always said how pathetic it was for the girls who ogled over the Quidditch boys and their muscles? And there she had been, sitting on her bed feeling jealous of the water droplets running down his chest. JEALOUS OF WATER DROPLETS. She was a disgrace.

Sirius, who had previously been sitting on the edge of her bed and then on the floor as a result of her pushing him off, had watched her sudden change of emotions and was smirking wickedly. He was enjoying her embarrassment far too much, the smug prat.

Half naked, good looking boys aside, why the hell were they in her room! They shouldn't even be able to get in the girls dorms unless accompanied and given consent by one of the occupants. She certainly didn't remember giving either of them permission to enter, or shower! Was that her… her towel. The towel wrapped around Potter's...bottom half. Had he defiled her towel?!

The room smelt awfully funny, not exactly bad, just particularly different from the usual excessive lavender smell Lily insisted on putting throughout their dorm. It smelled... Well honestly it was a mixture between sweat, booze and smoke. There was also that same distinct forest smell that seemed to follow her these days. Though it was a rather funky combination, she almost preferred it to the overbearing lavender. Hadn't she asked Lily constantly to change the smell. Circe, the day Lily actually listened to her.

That said, Lily certainly wouldn't have cigarettes or alcohol. Charlotte sent a fiery glare towards the STILL naked Potter, and Sirius. What have they done to her room! And what on earth did they do to her bed. Those weren't her sheets.

Sure, it was the Gryffindor sheets. Every firsty and seventh year had the same darn sheets. But these were wrinkled, untucked and smelt, but not of her. Wood, the kind that come from dense rough trees, something acidic, a cleaner of some sort, possibly for brooms and… peppermint. POTTER?!

Was she… did he...

"WHAT IN GODRIC'S NAME IS GOING ON!" She cried louder, hazardly throwing off the sheets covering her legs. She was still fully clothed in last night's attire, which at least gave her a small amount of confidence. Her actions had been fast and rather brash, as a round of dizziness overtook her instantly. Still, she swung her legs over the bed and hurried to get off. There was no way she would lay snuggling into that pillow for another moment longer.

"Charlotte, calm the hell down!" Potter yelled, forgetting her intoxication apparently. Considering she had yelled first, she couldn't blame him. Still, she winced at the loud sound that bounced around her already screaming brain. Charlotte forced herself to steady enough so that she could glare at the naked, towel-cladden boy before her.

Calm down?! She awoke to Sirius Black in her bed, and a naked James Potter walking out of the bathroom. She was also very certain Potter had either slept in her bed, or she wasn't in her room at all. Either way, she was furious and utterly confused. Why the hell would she be in a boys dorm, in potters bed!

"Last night you passed out and we brought you back to the common room, you didn't want Lily seeing you drunk or hung-over, so we brought you into the boys dorm." Potter explained slowly, much calmer than Charlotte was at the moment.

Had she really passed out? Surely she hadn't drunk enough to be THAT intoxicated. She'd had 2 bottles of firewhiskey in one night before! Then again, that was about 5 hours of drinking. Charlotte had managed to down half a bottle's worth of firewhiskey in 10 seconds. If she wasn't so confused, repulsed and annoyed at herself, she would possibly be proud.

That still didn't explain why they had brought her here of all places. Potter said she had told them that she didn't want Lily to see her with the after affects of drinking. That was certainly believable. She would do almost anything to avoid Lily seeing her drinking habit arising again.

Not that it was of course. eh heh.

Charlotte was now flustered again in embarrassment for screaming at the boys who insured she didn't get in trouble with Lily. It had been rather thoughtful of them to bring her into their room. Though why they hadn't thought to dress before she woke up, or why Sirius found it necessary to practically lie on her while she was still half asleep was still rather mysterious and uncomfortably inappropriate.

"Oh…" Charlotte said slowly, her mouth forming an O shape as she looked between Sirius and Potter, both smirking at her from their respective places in the dorm room. An uncomfortable silence took over the room at Charlotte's desperate attempt to keep her eyes firmly on their faces. "Whose bed was I sleeping on?"

She knew whose it was; she could SMELL him on the bloody bed. In fact, the smell that she had first noticed from him seemed to intoxicate the room just as much as the lavender in her room. How on earth did he do that? Rub himself against everything in the room? Charlotte had simply asked because it would be rather awkward for either of the boys to know she recognised Potter by scent.

"Mine," Potter answered with a wink as he pushed himself out of the bathroom doorway. Charlotte's cheeks burnt brighter and she forced her eyes to remain off his body as he walked over and dug through his trunk at the foot of his bed. "Couch was lovely last night, ill be walking like a hunchback for weeks"

"I told him i was happy with you sleeping in my bed, but apparently he thought you might freak out if you woke up next to me in bed." Sirius drooled with a forlorn sigh, leaning back against the bedpost on the floor. Charlotte rolled her eyes at his dramatics but instantly regretted it when it felt like her eyes were being brushed by sandpaper. "No idea why, it's practically every woman's dream, am I right?"

It was far too early and Charlotte still too intoxicated to reprimand Sirius on his massively annoying ego.

"You scared her by just being in the same room as her!' Potter cried with laughter, a shirt and trousers in hand. He slammed his trunk shut, causing Charlotte to bristle and glare in frustration at the continuous blaring he managed to create. "Of course she would freak out if she woke up to your naked body pressed against her!"

Err naked body?

"Awww.. pwongsie, are you being all pwotective of widdle Charlotte?"

Charlotte, who was apparently forgotten at the moment, blushed so deeply she feared her cheeks would suddenly catch on fire by its aggression. They were talking about her like she wasn't there, which didn't really bother her as long as they strayed away from the current topic. Already she was scarred from the memories of the both of them shirtless; she truly didn't need other more inappropriate images flooding her thoughts.

"Sorry Potter, for taking your bed for the night." Charlotte said sheepishly. "Honestly, I don't understand why you would do that for me."

"What do you-"

"Potions done!" A bright voice called from the front door to the boys' dorm. Charlotte didn't have the heart to glare at Remus as he walked into the room with a happy smile, even if his loud voice had sounded like bells banging against the inside of her skull.

Remus paused before Charlotte and took in the scene which included a shirtless Sirius and a barely covered Potter. Thankfully, he didn't come to any odd conclusions about the situation and instead gave her an apologetic frown before giving hard looks to his friends. "Godric, don't tell me you were both like that when she woke up!"

"Yes unfortunately, they were. What potion?" Charlotte asked with a sigh. Thankfully Remus was at least already dressed. She didn't know what she would do if she had to encounter ANOTHER undressed male within the span of 10 minutes. Two were more than enough.

"Hangover potion, will work wonders for that nausea,headache and sensitivity to light. Drink it down now and you'll be fine within 5 minutes."

Charlotte stood stock still scrutinizing his honest smile as he held out the corked flask towards her. Remus had actually made her a hangover potion? Not even Lily had ever done that for her. Then again, Lily believed in the muggle saying 'You reap what you sow'. Apparently that meant if she drank enough to feel its effects the next morning, it was her own damn fault. Charlotte could at least agree with her sister on that note.

Charlotte had never even thought to attempt a hangover potion, even when she was halfway to becoming an alcoholic. Now she felt incredibly stupid. How many times could she have saved herself from her misery by having a potion like this handy.

"Th-thank you Remus...i dont…. i dont understand," Charlotte stuttered looking into his brown eyes as she gingerly took the flask out of his hands. Confusion washed over his face for a moment as he watched her distractedly twirl the dark green potion.

"The potion? ah well i guess i could explain it to you-"

"No, no. I understand that. Simple potion really, I don't understand why you did this all for me." She interjected, blushing at her reply.

Charlotte honestly couldn't understand why they would care at all if she were hung-over, or if she hadn't wanted Lily to see her like this. Why had they done so much to care for her? Someone of a slightly more increased self-confidence would probably just assume they were being friendly, but Charlotte didn't have friends, and this whole caring thing, was new to her.

Sure, Lily and Charlotte cared about each other, but it was obligation. At least, it was obligation for her older twin. Lily seemed to delight in constantly telling Charlotte all that she did for her on a daily basis. It made Charlotte wonder if Lily ever did anything for her just because she cared about her.

"I thought it would have been obvious," Potter said with a laugh, returning to the room with his white uniform blouse and long grey trousers on. She hadn't even noticed his lost presence in the room, but was more than thankful that when he did re-enter, he was fully clothed.

"Uhh, not to me," Charlotte said, eyes wide and confused.

"Your Lily's sister," Potter replied with a shrug, throwing on his grey vest and grabbing onto his Gryffindor tie, both of which had been hanging across his bed.

Charlotte's confused expression instantly dropped. Instead, in its place sat a look of complete indifference, a mask she had perfected over the years.

"Right," Charlotte said with a sigh, looking down at her feet. She stepped slowly back to the bed, picking up her coat that had been draped across the end. She swung it on and took a step towards the doorway. "ill be off then, thanks for the bed, the potion and that you didn't dump me in my dorm or leave me in a gutter. I'm sure Lily appreciates it."

Potion in hand, Charlotte walked to the door of the boys dorm, opened it and left all in one swift movement, not daring to look back into any of their faces. She was truly thankful, and had been honest when she thanked all three of them, however there was also the bitterness in her voice, a clear indication she had taken Potter's answer to heart, even if she hadn't wanted to.

Of course they had done all that on Potter's request because she was his 'darling Lily's' sister, it had been rather stupid of her to think otherwise. Had she honestly dared to think they had done it because they were friends now?

"Charlotte wait!" Sirius had called out to her, but she didn't stop.

 **oO0Oo**

James stared at the door that was slammed with a confused expression. They had gone to great lengths to make sure Charlotte was okay and she stormed off like she was angry. He had thought he'd done the right thing by bringing her into their dorm the previous night and letting her sleep in his bed. Her reaction told him otherwise.

James had long since concluded that Charlotte had some anger issues she had to sort out and some particularly personal issues with Lily. She had yelled at him almost every time they had spoken, and though there hadn't been anger, per say, just then, it was clear she was pissed about something.

"Really prongs?" Sirius asked exasperatedly, holding his hands in the air.

James turned, and faced his friend furrowing his brows. What was he going on about. Was he actually suggesting that James had something to do with the way Charlotte had just acted?

"What? What did i do?" He asked in confusion. Instantly Sirius rolled his grey eyes.

"Your lily's sister" He mocked with a shrug, the same shrug James had done only moments ago. "Couldn't you see why you shouldn't have said that? Are you a sodding idiot?"

"Id like to think not, but i'm clearly not understanding what i did wrong whereas you all understand," James said incredulously pointing around the room to the 3 boys who shared a look of disbelief at his ignorance.

"Mate, i'm going to leave it for you to work out, so you can prove you're not a moron. Would also be a good lesson to learn about women." James had stepped forward to punch him on the shoulder, however he simply stepped away back towards his own bed, draping on his uniform in its usual manner. Meaning it was barely done up, and looked extremely careless. Tis the style of Sirius Black.

"Moony, you'll tell me right?" James said hopefully, turning to Remus who was collecting his books in a bag on his bed. Remus looked up for a second and smiled apologetically.

"Sorry James, i've got to agree with Padfoot. I haven't known Charlotte that well, only one night really. Its very clear to me, even after just one night, that I wouldn't have said what you just had."

Wait, had James said something to offend her? James screwed up his in confusion and Remus sighed dejectedly. "Just think about it, you'll know why she was upset when you have."

James turned to the back corner of the room where the last of the four was hiding, furiously writing on a scroll of parchment, most likely finishing up some last minute homework. Homework James himself had not completed. Perhaps it had been a good suggestion for him to start doing his homework. Gordic knows that Lily was studious.

"Pete?" He asked with the same hopefulness he had expressed to Remus. Surely Peter would tell him what he had done wrong, he hardly ever went against any of them, and was a horrid liar.

For some reason this morning, he was apparently taking a stand, for he simply shook his round head and laughed.

"Prongs if i understood what just happened, and you didn't, something is definitely not right here."

He went back to writing, and it became clear to James that not one of his best friends would help him.

"You're all bloody useless!" James yelled, stomping back into the bathroom, hoping against all odds to tame his wild hair and work out what exactly he had done to make his wingman, or rather wingwoman, storm out of the room.

 **oO0Oo**

Charlotte quietly crept out of the boys dorm and rushed to reach her own. Considering she wasn't meant to be in the boys dorms anyway, she had only been partially surprised when the stairs flattened into a slide and she slide to the very bottom. Charlotte stifled the scream that dared to escape on her way down, not wanting to draw attention to the fact she had been in the boys dorms. She wanted people to acknowledge her existence, but not because she was found sneaking out of the boys rooms.

Technically the boys stair werent meant to flatten like that, however it had happened several times in the last few years much to everyone's confusion. Apparently, the stairs were somewhat similar to the grand staircase, they had a mind of their own. If a boy were to race up to the girls with good intentions, not even a hint of mischief in his mind, the stairs would allow him. Much was the same for the boys staircase and more often than not, girls walked up the staircase easily. Even staircases believed Women were the more trustworthy gender.

Charlotte concluded that the stairs had flattened for her because she had been trying to sneak out of the dorms. Also because she was still thinking about shirtless boys much to her embarrassment. THe stairs found a way of pushing anyone out with… inappropriate thoughts or intentions.

Without even caring to see if anyone had been in the common room, Charlotte quickly turned around on the stairs bannister and raced up the identical staircase on the right.

Her and Lilys dormitory was at the end of the corridor and she found herself creeping along, hoping that lily was still asleep.

As a precaution whilst she stood in front of the door, she did a quick job of taming her hair which was particularly pointless, and gulping down the potion. Charlotte pulled out her wand, which was thankfully in her waistband where it had been last night, and cast tergeo on her clothing, hoping to eradicate all smell of of her. Particularly a woody scent that regretfully stayed on her due to her sleeping location.

When she felt the potion take effect, she made her way into the room. The light didn't burn her eyes, and she was no longer dizzy or nauseous. Her headache however, still hadn't left. Perhaps it took longer to work.

It took her only a moment to realise Lily was still fast asleep in the four poster bed across from hers. That was a little odd of Lily, to be asleep this late in the morning. Perhaps she should wake her sister. Or not.

Deciding that she was utterly uninterested in being interrogated, she grabbed a clean uniform and made her way to the bathroom. Though she no longer smelt or was unclean, she couldn't help the burst of laughter that came out as she took in her appearance in the full length mirror.

Her long blonde hair, which definitely needed a trim, was an absolute mess. Even though Charlotte had smooth waves when she got out of a shower, they always managed to knot themselves. If Charlotte had not been born with the ridiculous hair, she'd likely think that someone had cursed her hair to be forever a pain. She didn't dare try to unknot it, that only ever ended in ripped out hair and broken brushes. Instead, she twisted the long hair until it formed a low bun. Surprisingly, it didn't look very messy once it was stable at the back of her neck. Somehow, she managed to make her hair look respectable for once. The one upside to a very odd morning.

Once dressed, she regarded the mirror once more, taking a sweeping glance over her facial features. The same dark blue eyes. The same furrowed brows. The same small nose and puckered lips. The same tanned complexion.

Sometimes, when Charlotte was feeling particularly pathetic, she wondered if primping herself up a little more would help her in the friend department. Maybe, if she looked like she cared about her appearance more others would…No. What a stupid thought.

Potter's comment had made her feel pathetic apparently, as she wondered this now, staring at her large eyes in the mirror. She had always thought, though she would never admit it, that she was pretty. Perhaps not as much as Lily, but she definitely wasn't ugly. She wasn't rude, unless someone gave her a reason to be. She never gave anyone a reason to avoid her. The only reason ANYONE ever approached her, was Lily.

Her 'friendship' with Potter and Sirius was certainly not the conventional friendship. For one, they would be helping her with illegal magic. Not something you usually did with a hopeful friend. Giving Potter advice on how to land in Lily's good books wasn't something you usually did with a friend either.

Her first friends in years were fraudulent. She really didn't want to feel pathetic, but how could she not!

With that cheerful realisation in mind, she left the bathroom, grabbed her school satchel and left the dorm and common room, not paying any attention to anything or anyone around her. In fact, had someone called out her name, she wouldn't have heard. She was in a world of her own. Practically drowning in self pity.

Not even the comfort of her isolated alcove improved her mood that morning. For over 40 minutes, she sat looking out at the Hogwarts grounds, her home, and her state of mind was as depressed as before.

 **oO0Oo**

"CHARLOTTE!"

Charlotte sighed deeply and went to sit down in her usual seat, which was always relatively deserted. She wasn't interested in putting up with his antics at the moment. It was one thing to embarrass her when it was just a few students, but in front of the entire school and all the teachers? She'd rather throttle Sirius Black than allow him to do that, even if none if the students recognised her.

Sheepishly, she moved into a seat beside a few third years, ignoring their confused glances. So far no one seemed bothered by Sirius' loud interruption. Having the boisterous boy at the school for six years already likely meant that it was rather expected of him to be so loud and bothersome.

All morning in classes he had attempted to get her attention. Sitting beside her and passing notes. Perhaps had it of been another morning, she would have at least been friendly. However she just hadn't been interested in making conversation.

"CHARLOTTE EVANS!"

He continued to call louder, now standing on the bench seat and flapping his arms wildly around him. All eyes had quickly turned to him and many had turned in her direction, noticing where he was looking. Some seemed confused at who he was yelling at, probably wondering why a loner new girl was being called out by Sirius Black of all people.

Charlotte met his eyes for a moment, and sent her most icy, furious glare before turning back towards the food before her, not overly interested in participating with the midday festivities. She hid her face with her hand and tried not to meet the eyes any of the other Gryffindors and Ravenclaws that were looking her way. _Not that they would recognise me anyway_ she thought with bitter resentment.

Perhaps Potter's backhanded comment had affected her mood somewhat. It was only being exacerbated by Sirius efforts.

"CHARLOTTE AMBROSIA EVANS!"

Fed up with his stupidity, Charlotte jumped out from her seat on one hand, grabbed her bag and stormed to where Sirius was smirking mischievously, still standing on the bench.

"Sirius black, shut your bloody mouth this instant!" She growled furiously, tugging on his blazer so he would fall into his seat. Eventually he complied, and hopped off the bench, though he didn't look sorry at all. He looked smug and victorious, and it made her regret instantly that she had stepped over to him. "My middle name isn't Ambrosia you moron."

Sirius laughed loudly, grabbing the attention once again of many of the students in the room. In a similar way to how she had whacked Potter only last night, she hit him upside the head, to which he just smiled brightly at, even whilst rubbing the back of his wavy hair.

"My mistake," He said with a shrug, winking at her. "You're having lunch with us!"

"I don't think so. There is a free space at Gryffindor table which is generally reserved for my lonesome, and it's looking so welcoming today," Charlotte explained with a tight smile.

"Pet, that wasn't a question." Sirius swung his arm around her shoulders and pulled her over to where Potter, Remus and Peter were all sitting at the table. They were all sporting humoured smiles as they watched Sirius practically dragging her over to them. A few jinxes and hexes popped into her mind that she wouldn't mind trying, just to get those smiles of their faces. How dare they think her embarrassment was funny!

"Get off me!" Charlotte cried, attempting to fight of his hold around her. Her struggle only made him hold her tighter and laugh louder at her pathetic attempts. He was far stronger and wider than her, and her aggression was no match for his strength. She realised this, and gave up fighting, thankful that he at least let go of his hold a little when he sensed she no longer had the will to struggle. "And do not call me pet!" She snapped.

"Okay blossom." He replied, continuing to pull her further down the table.

"Or blossom!"

"Yes, my darling cactus."

"Ugh, what is with the nicknames?" Charlotte groaned, now standing at the table before Sirius and his friends. She noted that they were all thankfully fully clothed. Why she found the need to mentally note that was rather odd, almost as odd as the idea that they wouldn't be fully clothed in the great hall. _Do not blush. Do not blush._

"Charlotte is too long," Sirius replied with an exhausted sigh, finally releasing her only to have her shove him roughly.

"Cactus and Charlotte both have 2 syllables you idiot!"

"Charlotte, I wouldn't bother trying with him. His brain isn't wired like ours," Remus said with a laugh.

"That, I already know," Charlotte conceded with a sigh, shaking her head slowly. "Cactus?"

"Well I was going to give you a flower name, but you're far too rude to have a name so delicate. Therefore, cactus." Sirius explained as he sat down on the bench before them.

"Well aren't you a right asshole," Charlotte grumbled

"I try."

"Hello Charlotte, you're faring much better than this morning." Potter said with a soft smile. Charlotte only met his eyes for a moment, instantly regretting that she had looked up at all. In contrast to when she last saw him, his incomprehensible hair was dry and sat halfway on his face and in the air. Apparently not even the hand that ran through his hair managed to create any form of order, if only unsettling his dark strands more. And she thought her own hair was a lost cause.

His eyes were watching her carefully, like he was trying to work something out and it unsettled her, even if his hazel eyes were only watching her in care. What truly unsettled her most was his smile. His smile was careful and calming but somehow managed to have the complete opposite effect on Charlotte. By the time she had diverted her eyes to look down at the ground, her stomach was in a fit of nervousness and she felt completely uneasy.

"Mhmm," She answered avoiding his gaze, preferring to stare down at her scuffed school shoes. If there was one thing Charlotte was undeniably good at, it was holding grudges unknowingly. Even now she had the urge to whip out her wand and send him flying into the air, though her reasoning was somewhat confusing to herself. He obviously hadn't meant to hurt her feelings that morning, and she couldn't blame him really.

She also was having trouble looking at him considering the last time she spoke to him he had been half naked. What did one do in a situation like this? Was she really the only one who felt incredibly awkward?

So honestly, she accepted that what he said wasn't all that bad. She had to at least try to act like she wasn't pissed at the boy.

"You okay?"

"Oh yeah, sure," She answered, mostly sarcastically. In her attempt to avoid looking at him at all costs, she missed the furrowing of his brows and sigh that escaped his lips. Had anyone else been observing him, they easily could have guessed he seemed hurt.

"Charlotte, come sit down." Charlotte watched for a few moments as Sirius patted the spot between him and Pete, realising if she refused, he would probably just drag her into the spot anyway. With a sigh she plopped into the seat and shoved her bag under her feet.

Looking out at the food across from her she realised, with annoyance, she was sitting directly across from Potter, and he was still watching her with that small smile.

Ignoring the stares of the boys around her, which is all they ever seemed to do, she grabbed some breakfast and munched hurriedly, hoping that the meal would end as soon as possible.

Thankfully they managed to hold a discussion that she took no part in, giving her time to watch them all. As the weather was getting colder, all four boys, par Potter were wearing the school blazer. Potter instead had on a grey vest which was concealed under his robes.

Surprisingly they were discussing a certain prank they would be undertaking on filch. Surprising, only because they would discuss it while she was there. Considering she doesn't exactly have anyone to share it with, she chose not to feel too honoured. It was embarrassing enough that she was friends with them for a deal, relishing that they talked normally around her was even more so.

"So, tell us about yourself Charlotte!" Sirius said brightly, watching her with a wide smile, resting his head on a hand.

"Err... Why?" She asked stupidly, putting down her favourite cinnamon swirl scroll. Don't tell her thighs, but it was her favourite pastry, and she would eat it whenever they served it. Morning, lunch or dinner.

"When you're trying to get to know someone, you generally have a conversation about certain topics, particularly ones you have a shared interest in." Charlotte narrowed her eyes at Sirius, who seemed to be enjoying his mocking speech far too much. "It's okay, I know the whole 'friend' thing is new to you, because you have no friends, because you're friendless, but we can-"

"Oh shut up," She growled, hitting his arm his head was leaning on so his head dropped onto the table with a loud whack. The sound startled not only the boys around her but half of Gryffindor table, as attention was once again brought to the infamous group. Charlotte didn't even feel sorry for hurting Sirius, the bloody prat deserved it. "I like my breakfast hot, and in silence."

Her aggression was met with snickering from around her and she was surprised to see that they all found it so funny that their friend was hurt.

"Wow... You really messed her mood up prongs." Peter whispered across the table to Potter who looked shocked and annoyed. Sirius apparently agreed as he nodded his head, clutching his forehead with a pout. Charlotte was surprised to find that Sirius didn't seem at all angry by her abuse, instead giving her a pouty wide eyed look that would most likely melt most girls hearts instantly.

Charlotte liked to think she was immune to his charm, but honestly, even she could feel her annoyance fading.

"I did no such thing!" Potter harshly whispered back, loudly enough that Charlotte had to roll her eyes. Charlotte reigned in her urge to whack him over the head and instead cleared her throat. He looked across at her sheepishly as though only just realising that she could probably hear his pathetic attempts at whispering. Another roll of her deep blue eyes was all she gave in return.

"Look, I'm sorry, I still have a killer headache," Charlotte said with a sigh, clutching the bridge of her nose between her fingers. Her eyes drifted to Remus who was watching her with a confused expression. "Remus I think you may have made a mistake with that potion."

"Remus make a mistake?!" Sirius cried loudly with a startling GASP. He clutched his chest as though in pain and yelled loudly, "How dare you insinuate that!"

"How do you mean Charlotte?" Remus said with a smile, ignoring his friend.

Charlotte took a quick sip of her drink, pondering whether or not she should really be discussing his personal method out loud. Most potion makers are known for their secrecy about Ingredients and the method from which they created a new formula. Then again, he had asked her with genuine curiosity and concern. He wouldn't have if he hadn't expected her to answer honestly. They were surrounded by friends, well, his friends anyway.

"I think you've added too much Horklump juice, I'm assuming that's what you used, my sensitivity to light and nausea are gone, but it didn't effect my headache at all. I'm fairly certain that the additional Horklump counteracted the Salamander blood in the potion, therefore making it unstable."

Charlotte looked up from her cup to the startled faces of all four boys, even Remus. Her cheeks pinked and she looked back at her food, biting her lip. She hadn't meant to act like a know-it-all. She usually reserved that for when she was around Lily.

Charlotte may never have created a hangover potion, but that didn't mean she wasn't fairly certain to its ingredients. Charlotte was quite advanced in the theory side of potions, and quite enjoyed messing about with different amounts of ingredients, hoping to create different effects or better ones that already created. By the taste, she was able to recognise most of the Ingredients from the potion Remus gave her, including both the Horklump juice and salamander blood, both of which are ingredients used in healing potions.

"I see, considering it is my own version of it, I suppose it's not impossible I made a few mistakes." Charlotte watched as Remus rubbed his head thoughtfully and pulled out a small notebook, quickly scribbling something down on the page before returning it to his robe pocket. He smiled apologetically before talking to Charlotte again. "I'm sorry Charlotte; do you need me to get something for the headache?"

"No don't worry about it, really. I would love to see the preparation for the potion sometime." Charlotte said with a smile, tilting her head to the side, watching in amusement as a brief amount of excitement flashed across the face of the sandy haired boy in front of her.

"I'd be glad to show you."

"Well now that THAT nerdiness is over, love, I'd like to know something," Sirius exclaimed dramatically. Charlotte shook her head and frowned across at him, turning in her seat so she was facing him head on.

"Know what?' She asked impatiently.

"Just something... anything," Sirius said, shrugging his wide shoulders, giving her a wide smile that had her all the more frustrated.

"Its Wednesday," Charlotte growled.

"About you," Sirius specified with a smirk, nudging her side.

Charlotte sighed and looked at the boy with stormy grey eyes. He seemed to be genuinely interested for some odd reason. Her patience had managed to all but disappear as it often had when in the presence of Sirius recently. If she didn't answer him, he would likely pester her or charm her into telling him something anyway. It was far less painful to give him harmless information now, then share even more personal thoughts later on.

"Er, okay," Charlotte rubbed her head attempting to think of the most impersonal and unimportant information she could possibly think of. "I like listening to music so loud that I can't think, I like standing in the rain and I have 3 shots of coffee every morning."

Well that wasn't too bad. Not overly interesting, not particularly important but personal enough that Sirius was thankfully accepting of her answer.

"You know, you can tell a lot about a person by the music they listen to," Sirius said with a smirk.

"There you go." Charlotte whooped unenthusiastically. If you couldn't tell already, she wasn't interested in making conversation at the moment. She thought she was making it obvious, but apparently not obvious enough for the oblivious arrogant sod next to her.

"Oh come on, play along." Sirius said with a laugh, knocking his shoulder against hers which caused her to bump into Peter next to her. She mumbled a quick 'sorry' before glaring at the brute on the other side of her, who just ignored her stare and smirked at her, continuing with his interrogation. "What are your favourite genres?"

"You'd be better off just answering his stupid queries," Remus whispered from across from her, his mouth half filled with the apple in one of his hands. Charlotte furrowed her brows wondering why on earth she should indulge the five year old. "You'll get rid of him faster," was his only explanation. It was apparently explanation enough, as she rolled her eyes and faced Sirius who sat waiting for her answer.

"Ugh." Okay, she probably could have helped the unladylike groan, but honestly, why would Sirius Black care what music she listens to. Enough that he would sit patiently waiting for her answer. "I listen to folk, rock and classical."

'That's a..." He sat quiet for a few moments, mulling over her choices. "Interesting blend," It came out as a scoff of laughter and Charlotte narrowed her eyes.

At Sirius' mockery, Charlotte felt the instant need to defend her choices. It was an odd reaction considering she didn't actually care for music that much. There was just something about Sirius Black mocking her, which made her want to prove him wrong.

"They are each for different moods," Charlotte explained with a sigh. "Classical is for whenever I'm studying, or need a good cry. Rock is when I'm angry or annoyed. And folk... Folk I just like the sound of."

"Interesting," Sirius said slowly watching Charlotte slowly.

"Not really," Charlotte answered with a snort, picking up her food again and taking a few bites. The table was mostly silent, and Charlotte decided to reciprocate a question just so they would stop staring at her for a moment. They really had a problem with staring.

"Remus, I know your party is tonight, is it your birthday today?"

"No thankfully. It's was actually last week." Remus said with a laugh shaking his head. He had a book in his hand and an apple in the other, moving the direction of his eyes only for a moment to look at Charlotte.

"Oh? Why are you celebrating so late? I would have thought you'd want to celebrate on the day, and i would assume you boys would make a big deal out of it as well." She said, pointing at Sirius, Peter and Potter who all were looking rather sheepishly at their food on their plates.

Charlotte was actually surprised that there wasn't banners hanging around the entire school and enchanted gnomes singing songs for Remus. She couldn't remember anything overly spectacular happening last week, other than the usual odd explosive custard during dinner or dungbombs scattered lazily under the Slytherin's table in the great hall. They were all known for their extravagance when it came to birthdays as she had been told by Lily numerous times of the messes they had managed to create throughout the castle.

She had at least expected streamers in the common room, but not even they were present for the last few weeks since someone else in Gryffindor last had a birthday.

"Uh... Well I went home for my birthday, for a day or two." Remus said with a shrug, barely glancing up from the book in his hand to regard Charlotte.

"You can do that?" Charlotte's tone was mixed with both shock and disbelief. She hadn't known you could just take days off like that. In fact she was fairly certain you couldn't. She was no prefect like him or Lily, but she had heard enough of school rules from her sister to know the bare basics.

"I got special permission from the headmaster." Remus looked up and smiled tightly at Charlotte before looking back down at his book.

"Oh, well then," Charlotte said slowly, confused at his reaction. "I suppose tonight is an initiation then? First legal time drinking and all that?"

Sirius spoke before Remus could answer, clapping him loudly on his back, knocking the book right out of his hands. "Nah, we took him out on the weekend!"

Remus seemed to blanch at the mention of their weekend events, shrinking in his seat when his friends began snickering at him.

"Did you get him drunk?" Charlotte asked with a laugh, watching as Remus shrunk lower and lower on the bench until he was almost invisible. She could already tell from his reaction that SOMETHING had happened to make him look this embarrassed, and she couldn't help but try and find out what it was. "Because really, it's not much of an initiation if you didn't get him thoroughly smashed"

"Yes they did," Remus said quickly, before any of his friends could share for him. His cheeks were quite pink and he looked quite regretful just thinking about his birthday celebration. "And it was an experience I would gladly forget." Charlotte raised a comical brow, giving him a questioning look. He sighed, shaking his head. "Let's just say that the potion you sampled this morning didn't put a dent in my misery."

"Poor thing felt sick all day." Potter cooed from beside him, flinging his arm over his shoulders and pulling him in close. Even through Remus' protests, he managed to rest his head in the crook of Remus' neck. From the way Potter was sitting, it looked like the two were snuggling on the bench, and Charlotte was struggling not to burst out laughing from the sight. Potter managed to look like a curled up puppy, whereas Remus looked incredibly uncomfortable though completely unsurprised by his friend's actions. "We took very good care of him."

"Nonsense!" Remus huffed, pushing Potter off of his shoulder and brushing off his cloak. Charlotte giggled at the puppy frown on Potter's face, but stopped instantly, clearing her throat awkwardly. Charlotte does not giggle. Ever. She would reserve that obnoxious habit for her darling twin. "You were the most annoying you have ever been!"

"At least we held you back from completely strip-" Before Sirius could finish what he was saying Remus had his wand out pointed at his friend, who lifted his hands with a wide grin.

Charlotte had been completely unsuspecting of the action and had instantly raised her wand as well, not knowing that Remus would never actually harm his friend unless warranted. Both Potter and Sirius burst out laughing at Charlotte's reaction, whacking the wooden table through gasps of laughter. Peter was also snickering to her side at a slightly lower decibel than his friends.

Really, it hadn't been all that funny. If someone raises a wand at you, you pull your own out. Simple logic. How was Charlotte meant to know that Remus only meant the action to force Sirius to shut up?

Charlotte tucked away her wand in her cloak, mumbling about 'Stupid boys' and 'obnoxious wizards'.

"We said we would never talk about that!" Remus yelled in a whisper at Sirius. Remus had also put away his wand, but didn't hold back the fiery glare that he had used before.

"No, you said." Sirius said with a smirk, pointing across the table at Remus. "We didn't," He finished, pointing between himself, Potter and Peter.

"We actually happen to talk about it all the time." Potter said with a smirk, winking at Sirius. Remus looked as though he was about to whip out his wand again, so Charlotte interfered before they started a duel right in the middle of lunch.

"Don't worry Remus; I've done my fair share of stupid things while drunk," Charlotte said with a laugh, shaking her head as though remembering something embarrassing. Truth be told, she couldn't think of a single time she had publicly embarrassed herself, other than last night and this morning of course. Granted, she had only ever really gotten drunk while alone in her dorm, so all the stupid things she had done only she was aware of. Did that make her a hypocrite?

All four of them were looking at her expectantly and Charlotte felt her brows furrowing. They didn't honestly expect her to share embarrassing details did they? Well apparently they did, because moments passed and they were all still looking at her waiting. What was it with these boys and their incessant need for her to spill random secret stuff to them? They were hardly friends and Charlotte had already shared far more than she had meant to with Sirius and Potter.

"Well!" Charlotte said loudly, standing up from the bench, much to the surprise of the people around her. "I feel like we're best friends now that you know what music I listen to. That said, I've, we've, got class."

Charlotte moved out from the bench and grabbed her bag, slinging it over the shoulder of her cloak. She didn't really give a thought to whether or not she was being rude, for she had been interrogated long enough. Before she left, she grabbed the half eaten cinnamon scroll on her plate as well as two more sitting on a platter, wrapping it in a serviette and tucking it in her bag. She would definitely be eating those later.

"We are in the same class Charlotte, just walk with us!" Sirius said, his face screwed up in confusion. Charlotte paused for a moment to look around the table, noticing they all looked similarly confused.

"I know my way around, don't need you to hold my hand" Charlotte replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes. Lightly she added "I'll see you in class," before stepping away from the table and moving towards the great hall entrance. Thankfully Sirius didn't call out to her again.

Charlotte hadn't missed the confused stares of some of the other students around her before and whilst sitting with Potter, Sirius, Remus and Peter. Having people stare at her with the same dumb confused expression all the time forced her to become oblivious to such conduct, and she found herself doing the same exact thing whilst walking out.

As she stepped away from the Gryffindor table towards the doors to the great hall, sidestepping students as they made their way in, she distractedly pulled out a book from her bag without even looking down.

She had about 20 minutes left before class started, and she had hoped to spend all of lunch looking through her Animagus book instead of only such a short time. Still, if she managed to arrive at her History of Magic class before the rest of her peers, she could at least get a small amount of reading done. Professor Binns surely wouldn't mind. Considering the old man was only interested in blabbering about this goblin rebellion and that giant war he, like many other professors, hardly noticed Charlotte was ever in his classroom.

Just as she was almost a metre away from the entrance, she stopped her gait.

An unearthly wave of dizziness, such of which that couldn't possibly be caused by a hangover, overtook her, and she found herself struggling to see straight. The students and long tables began to morph together in an altogether sickly fashion reminding Charlotte of something she had once seen on her television at home.

For a few moments her vision was completely blank and her head was light as a feather. Not a fantastic feeling considering falling unconsciousness was not a desirable outcome in the middle of the great hall.

When she was finally able to see before her again, she was standing in the same spot. Her head was killing and the room was spinning in her vision. It felt like she had just come back from playing a Quidditch game, or a 5 hour exam. Never before had she felt so suddenly and fiercely weary. Her bones ached and her chest felt as heavy as a ton of bricks.

She suddenly wished she had taken up Sirius' offer to walk with him and his friends, as she honestly feared that taking a step forward would result in becoming a crumbled mess on the floor.

It took her longer than usual to retreat from the Great hall as each step she took; a wave of dizziness swam across her vision. When she did finally escape from the large room, she stood against the wall, resting her head on the cool bricks, waiting for her odd sickness to pass.

Suddenly, the thought of attempting to study anything as complicated as Animagus, became the furthest thing on her priority list. Attempting to look at the book in the right physical and mental health sent her crazy. Trying to do so with alcohol in her system and an odd amount of dizziness was a simply idiotic idea that likely would have her ended up in the Hospital wing or sentenced to a muggle mental institute.

Instead, she made her way to the Hospital wing, where she was given some time to rest, and a potion for her dizziness.

Charlotte had been too completely preoccupied from escaping the great hall that she never noticed the cool stare she had been given on her walk out from another student, nor the anger and jealousy behind the stare that came of the student in waves, not so unlike the waves of dizziness Charlotte experienced. Even if she had, she never would have connected it to what she was feeling. Because a look couldn't possibly do that to someone, make them feel sick and horribly weary, right?

Right.

 **oO0Oo**

 **Hello everyone !**

 **I'm sorry it took so long to update ! I really didn't/don't like this chapter and was procrastinating the whole fic because of it so I haven't been writing at all. Which is just stupid.**

 **Anyway. As I said, I don't like this chapter so I will probably change it haha,hehe,hoooooo. It is also not Beta'd at all at the moment so what you see is the raw flow of my imagination. Your welcome. But siriusly. If there are any mistakes, just send me a PM if it bothers you.**

 **Can i just say... WHY THE HELL DID I RIGHT SUCH A LONG CHAPTER THAT I DONT LIKE!**

 **Thanks for all the updates and follows/favourites. Almost 70 so that's pretty cool !**

 **Chapter 10 is 1/2 way done so HOPEFULLY it will be up soon. I'm not going to promise anything though, as I'll likely break that promise eh heh.**

 **Let me know if you think the story is progressing too slowly (I have a tendency to do that) or if my chapters are too long (I also have a tendency to do that).**

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 **RumblingFrenzy ~** Good Godric. This most definitely is NOT a three way! Its OC/JP\LE because it has romance of both OC/JP and LE/JP... Perhaps I need to make that a little more obvious? Woopsie X'D

 **Camilleraes** Good to hear you are enjoying the story! Sorry I haven't updated for weeks, as I said above, Im not a fan of this chapter but needed a filler before next chapter soooooo…. Yeah. Let me know what you think of this one, what I should change/cut out ect. J xx

 **I really hope I will be able to get chapter 10 done soon, because I actually LIKE that chapter, but you just never know honestly.**

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	10. Chapter 10

**Summary:**

 **There were many reasons Charlotte was the way she was. Mainly it was her 40 minute older sister Lily Evans. Lily was gorgeous, intelligent, witty and charming. Charlotte was sort of pretty; smart when she tried hard enough, highly sarcastic and unsociable. Charlotte was also virtually invisible behind her sister's stunning shadow. Every year she was in the same classes as her sister, and every year she found herself friendless and slightly more narcissistic than the year earlier. Well, it's their sixth year and Charlotte had long since given up the complexities of friendship in favour of interesting sorts of magic she wondered upon in the restricted section of the school library (and an alcohol habit she had yet to kick). That's where a desperate and ever charming James Potter comes in. Potter obviously doesn't understand the word 'Never' as he continues to try and win over Lily. Seemingly as a last resort, he corners Charlotte and begs her to help him. Not being one to give others false hope, she tells him to shove it where even** _ **lumos**_ **doesn't shine. However a fateful meeting in a darkened library reveals that Potter and Charlotte may have more in common that Charlotte had ever hoped. They fortify a deal which is beneficial to both parties, with one main rule. DO NOT TELL LILY.**

 **Chapter 10- Speculating Suspicious Sisters and Sudden Appearances**

~ James Potter 3rd person POV ~

James was known for being rather oblivious to the characters of others, in fact he chose to believe that every person muggle, muggle born, half blood and pureblood alike, were good natured until proven otherwise. Sirius called him an idiot for trusting too easily, Remus thought it a valuable character quality, the trust part, not the obliviousness, and Pete often told him he wished he felt the same way about others. James knew that Charlotte wasn't bad in any way, she was painfully honest and rather socially awkward. She raised so many questions, only making her more and more peculiar.

James watched with mild curiosity as she stood up and walked away from the four boys at the Gryffindor table, barely shifting in her gait to glance back. Charlotte Evans seemed to both cherish and despise her social isolation, which was confusing in of itself. It was clear that she obviously felt lonely with only having her twin as a friend, yet at times, she acted as though she preferred it to the company of 'the marauders'.

James knew that they, mostly he and Sirius, could be a tad overbearing, but surely spending time with them was a more profitable use of someone's time rather than sitting alone? It truly baffled James why she would chose to sit by herself, as she had so obviously wanted to do, rather than joining the four of them for lunch.

It had been James' suggestion after all, that that try to include her in daily activities like breakfast and dinner in the hopes that slowly she could become more comfortable and trusting of them all, James in particular. Of course he hadn't asked Sirius to be so darn obnoxious about it, but everything Sirius seemed to do was rather extravagant and... Loud. He also enjoyed having all eyes on him, so it really was no surprise that he chose to make a spectacle in front of everyone in the great hall.

James had watched Charlotte almost the entire lunch, observing her interactions with Sirius and Remus, as she apparently refused to even spare a glance his direction. He managed to bottle his annoyance by sulking into his food. _Why was she ignoring just him, rather rude. Now she's having a good laugh with Padfoot, because they get on so well...Why isn't she asking him anything? They've spoken the most out of anyone?!_

Her long dirty blonde hair hair which, from the few days he had known her, was known to be as messy as his own, was somehow wrapped around into a bun at the nape of her slender neck, pulling the curtain away from her face. It was one of the first times James was able to get a good look at Charlotte without all that hair in the way, and he was surprised to find the small details he had managed to miss on their interactions so far.

Charlotte's appearance, much like her personality, seems to contrast Lily's completely. Where Lily had a small doll like face which could only ever be described as cute, lovely and perfect in every manner of the word, Charlottes features were similar but hardened. Her face was ridden with barely contained expression. She seems to either have the inability to hide her emotions, or simply didn't care too, as she hadn't, not once since James met her, ever tried to bury what she was feeling as it was always clearly expressed on her face. If she was annoyed, you could see it clearly as her brows scrunched up and her lips pursed together. When she was happy, all her features seemed to soften and it was almost like looking at a completely different girl. When she was happy she looked far more like her twin. They had a similar eye, nose, mouth and chin shape, but other than that, Lily and Charlotte couldn't be more different.

Light freckles danced across Charlotte's tanned nose, a colour which was completely surprising considering their locational climate. Weather, both at home and at Hogwarts, never seemed to reach a temperature where she could maintain her olive tone year round. James figured her olive skin had to have come from her father, whom he had seen once or twice at London station and like Charlotte, had a natural olive hue.

He wanted to encourage her to smile more. Charlotte looked quite pretty, and far more approachable when her dark blue eyes were instead shining with laughter rather than frustration, suspicion or annoyance as they so often had since he had met her. James didn't really know Charlotte that well, but he knew if he suggested anything of the sort, she'd likely give him an earful.

For days James had been riddled with the idea that he had never met her. It just wasn't likely that he never noticed her in passing. They shared the same common room for 6 years, attended classes together most of those years and she also happened to be the twin sister of the girl he fancied. It just wasn't bloody likely that he would completely miss her existence.

He wasn't so stupid to think that he knew everyone at Hogwarts my name, but generally, after being at the school for as long as he had, he had come to recognise the faces of the students around him.

He knew everyone in Gryffindor, most by name and he easily remembered all those who played quidditch alongside him and on the other house teams. He could recognise a group of Ravenclaw girls that he often caught staring, a few Hufflepuffs he tutored before Christmas and a considerable amount of Slytherins who were on the receiving end of the marauders monthly dungbomb attack and bi monthly wicked pranks. He may not know all their names, but he knew that had he seen any of them walking down diagon alley, he would be able to recollect a time when he had seen them in passing.

Not a single time could he remember ever seeing Charlotte. Not on the train, not when he had been caught by Sirius staring at Lily when she met with her parents in London, not in the common room, or the library or even in the bloody great hall! She was pretty, and though James hated to admit it, he doubted that had he of seen her, he wouldn't have at least tried to strike up a conversation. If not him, then at least Sirius. Okay definitely Sirius.

Something about her sudden appearance was far too odd to ignore, and it had James constantly wondering how and where she came from, because it wasn't likely that she had been in front of them for 6 years and they hadn't heard a word from or about her.

He wasn't so foolish to think that Lily actually liked him enough to share anything about her family with him, but he at least thought she would share such sentiments with Remus who seemed to be as close to Lily as he was to him. If anyone would have mentioned Charlotte, wouldn't it be Lily, her 'supposed' twin?

Something was just... _Not right._

"Mate, you've been mumbling for the last five minutes and we haven't heard a word you're saying, speak up," Sirius said with a laugh, taking a gulp of his drink before waiting for James to answer with a brow raised curiously.

James watched his friend for a moment, staring into his grey eyes and back down towards his food. Sirius may be joking, but he could see clearly that his friend was worried. James wasn't one to suddenly become serious over such trivial matters. If he was bothered, it was for good reason and Sirius knew that all too well.

"You're not daydreaming about Lily again are you?" Peter asked with a bemused snort earning an eye roll from James as he adjusted himself in his seat awkwardly. He had gotten used to their teasing of his infatuation with Lily, as it occurred on a regular basis. He had been trying, for several months now, to show them it was more than a passing fancy. He could accept that it might be hard to see it as such considering he had followed her around like a lost puppy since fourth year.

"Nah," James muttered with a sigh, leaning back from the bench. His face suddenly broke out with a wild smirk as he added, "I dream of her enough at night to to earn some variety during the day atleast."

Yes, he was still working on the maturity aspect of his love for Lily, but the boys could hardly expect anything different from him.

Remus' eye roll and Sirius' loud laughter made him forget for a few moments what he had been so deeply in thought about. But after a few moments of quiet, all 6 eyes were on him, awaiting the real reason why he was so deep in thought.

"I..." James started, frowning down at his plate. He didn't exactly know what to say or ask them but he knew they found the entire situation as odd as he had. All three boys were now watching James curiously, wondering what got their humoured friend so serious. "Am I the only one who finds Charlotte appearing out of the middle of nowhere after she has 'supposedly' been in our year and house for the last 6 years at least a little odd?"

James watched as recognition passed over the faces of the marauders, all of whom were now deep in thought, likely tossing up the same argument in their minds as James had done only moments ago.

"So what, you think she's lying?" Sirius asked with a deep frown not often expressed on his face. If James thought anything of the sort, Sirius clearly didn't agree. James knew Sirius liked Charlotte, but even he couldn't deny something was strange.

"it's possible. We don't know her that well." Pete piped in, shaking his round head. James nodded slowly in agreeance. They really had only known her for a few days, and she had made it known to him several times that they had no reason to trust each other.

"Honestly James, I've been thinking over it all myself." Remus sighed deeply, putting away the book which had had him entertained for the last hour. If a book went away, that was a clear sign they were having a serious conversation. Remus' attention was always split between what was going on around him as he was a fantastic multitasker, something James himself had always been secretly envious of as his own attention flittered around like a Pygmy puff.

"It doesn't make any sense that we have never heard or seen her. Maybe you three because you're oblivious, but not me."

James quirked a brow at his slight dig, but moved on considering he and the other boys _were_ rather oblivious at times.

"And he is friends with Lily," Sirius pointed out, brows furrowed waving a hand maniacally in Remus' direction, the sandy blond haired boy just managing to miss his swipes with specially timed ducks. "If Lily had spoken about her, you probably would have remembered?" He asked Remus, who simply nodded in agreement.

"'It's more likely that something isn't right than we all managed to miss a student, girl no less, in our year."

James frowned and looked back down at his plate. So they had confirmed his suspicions without actually confirming anything at all. All their conversation proved was that they were all similarly confused by the situation and by Charlotte herself.

"It's not just students either." James raised his eyes to Sirius' who looked deep in concentration, even as his eyes roamed around the table. He shuffled closer inwards, to create a form of privacy between their barricade of four before continuing. "It's teachers as well. Remember in our potions lesson? Sluggy had no idea who she was, he thought she was a new student. If it was anyone else, I wouldn't think much of it. But this is supposedly the sister of Lily. Slughorn practically worships Lily."

"Damn," James muttered. It was one thing for students to ignore or not know of a peer, but for a teacher, even one as oblivious as Slughorn, to forget a student, one as academic as Charlotte was bloody odd.

Silence encased the barricade of four, as each of the boys thought about every conversation they shared with Charlotte. It truly wasn't much to think about. Sirius and James were really the only two who had gotten to know Charlotte at all, and if anything, they were more concerned about her sudden appearance the better they got to know her.

"Well, before we do anything stupid," Remus said in a hushed voice, voice laced with carefully placed sarcasm. "which we most certainly are likely to do, let's just remember that we have only JUST met her, and she could just as easily be fooling us." He raised a brow and looked pointedly at Sirius and James for some odd reason.

"What, you think she is a death eater or something?" Sirius said a scoff, rolling his eyes dramatically. His antics were stopped by James who gave him a pensive expression that shut him up instantly.

"Lower your voice Sirius." James whispered harshly, taking off his glasses and holding onto the bridge of his nose when he felt a tight pressure build. He clearly wasn't use to being this serious for a long time, and the sudden mention of death eaters pushed him over the edge. He hated to admit it... But, "Remus is right... We have only known her for a short time and she is suspiciously interested in a certain illegal topic that we all happen to be experts in. She also just so happens to have no friends, and no one has heard of her except for Lily, who apparently has managed to keep her twins existence a secret for 6 odd years. It's all bloody odd!"

"Mate, calm down. We get it." James voice had slowly risen with each sentence and by the end of his little proclamation, he was practically yelling. What an odd sight it was to see James Potter yelling over something, and all his friends thought so as well. The most they had ever seen him get this worked up, was about Lily when she went on one of her rants saying he's simply just an 'obnoxious, selfish, ignorant, immature idiot with only half a brain.'

Sirius was just trying to placate him, but the hand resting on his shoulder was just annoying him, so he shoved it off, staring grumpily at his empty plate. There wasn't much in this world that James treasured more than honesty, trust and loyalty. The idea that Lily, or even Charlotte could have lied to them all, seriously pissed him off, putting him in a foul mood.

The boys seemed to take the hint, and steered the conversation onto a more appropriate public topic. Their choice almost had him smiling, as they all knew that Quidditch had a way of cheering James up instantly. If he wasn't thinking about the next prank, dreaming of Lily, fretting over the war or wondering about Charlotte, he would most likely be thinking, talking or playing quidditch.

James dropped into the conversation lightly, making fun of Pete's favourite team, who were all but rubbish in honesty, and whacking Sirius when he made an offensive topic over his own favoured team. Possibly slightly harder than he needed to.

They were just discussing Professor Mcgonagall's new layout for the quidditch practise concerning who had the field and what time, when a thought occurred to James.

Okay so it was a rather stupid one, not that many were smart to begin with, but this particular one bred all kinds of issues. Then again...most of his thoughts tended to have certain consequences that never seemed to be in their favour. Okay so the thought was _very_ stupid, but even with the lovely topic of quidditch as a distraction, James was still caught up in the confusing enigma that was Charlotte A Evans.

"I have an idea,"James said slowly, when the three had taken a moment to get themselves more food. They looked at him for a second then continued on with what they were doing.

"Famous last words," Sirius said with a laugh and an eye roll, tossing a bread roll high in the air and catching it in his mouth with a wide smile. It was refreshing to have Sirius' humour back, for it was strange for James to be angry as much as it was odd for Sirius to be... Well... Serious.

James sent a wink to Sirius who was across from him, before moving his plate out of the way so he could rest his elbows on the wood, pressing his palms together in thought.

Everything that was Charlotte Evans was confusing and rather worrisome, and the fact that James had set up a deal helping her with illegal animagus studies made him all the more enthused to find out exactly what the hell was going on. If she was who she said she was, then fantastic! If they discovered she wasn't...

"It'll be risky." James was met with 3 very similar and mocking eye rolls which made him grin in earnest.

"Rules, will most likely have to be broken," he pointed out, grinning wider when all three scoffed in unison.

"Mischief will definitely be involved, and where there is mischief, excitement shall follow', James said at last leaning forward and meeting the eyes of all three of his marauder comrades. His dark hazel eyes were flashing wildly as he awaited the finishing words.

"Sounds like fun," Sirius said with a wink.

"Sounds like trouble," Remus argued with a small, somewhat reluctant smile.

"Well it wouldn't be a very good idea if trouble wasn't involved, now would it?" James said finally with a cheer.

"I can't believe I still participate in that stupid jingle." Remus grumbled lowly, shaking his head in mock shame.

Even James was happily surprised that they joined along, as they hadn't said those lines since second year when they first got together as a group. When they hit third year and started noticing girls, they decided that saying those words every time they thought of an idea, wasn't exactly the coolest thing a bunch of teenage wizards could be doing.

"Let's hear it then prongs" Sirius said, nudging James' shoulder with a smirk that was half covered by his wavy black hair that was sitting halfway in his face.

James took a deep breath, and made sure that he was looking directly at Sirius, rather than Remus who was also across from him. He would _not_ like this idea at all, he was certain of it and he would be counting on both Sirius and Peter's help to convince Remus, as they often had had to do, that his idea wasn't completely idiotic.

James breathed out slowly, and spoke his words very clearly without a single emotion on his often animated face. "I want to retrieve Charlotte's student file."

Remus merely scoffed, rolled his eyes and brought his attention elsewhere. Peter laughed quietly to himself and continued eating his pork sausages. Sirius however, was watching James intently, clearly seeing what the other two had not.

"But that's-"

"In Professor Mcgonagall's office," James finished for him with a small smile. "I'm well aware."

Remus and Pete caught onto James sincerity faster than anticipated, and only seconds after, the four of them were deathly quiet. Only broken by Remus' solid shake of his head.

"No."

"Remus-" James attempted with a sigh, only to be cut off by Remus who was now leaning across the table, a troubled look in his brown eyes.

"We are not breaking into her office! And stealing a file?! This goes WAY beyond any of your regular idiotic plans." Remus' no nonsense tone was highly suggestive that James drop it instantly, but he wasn't ready to give up on the idea.

To him, it seemed rather logical to retrieve Charlotte's file. Once they had that in their possession, they would know the facts about Charlotte, if she was indeed at school since first year, if she really is Lily's twin and possibly even why no one knows of her. They were already invested in the truth behind Charlotte, knowing that James had taken a deeply serious risk letting on that he was an Animagus. She only knew about him, and that's all she's ever know to keep her curiosity away from their other... Furry little problem. Some would argue that James had put his trust in Charlotte far too easily and early when all he really knew about her was that she was the twin of Lily and she was interested in Animagi.

It only made it most important to James to find out that Charlotte is who she says she is, and she hadn't been lying to them, which seems to be the only other alternative.

The fact that they would have to break into Mcgonagall's office to do it was a rather large set back. Her office was the equivalent of Azkaban at Hogwarts. Unless you were bought in, you would never find a way to step within the walls of her formidable office. He himself, had unfortunately been in there many times, not often for good reasons.

The suggestion that they break in, was rather barmy, but it was his best at the moment. He was open to other ideas, but he couldn't imagine a better one than he was giving them now. After all, they did contain a certain map that showed hidden passageways within Hogwarts, why not use it to their advantage?

"Well how do you suggest we find out more about her, mr _I-love-rules_?" James asked sarcastically, ignoring the pointed look he got at Remus' mocking nickname.

"Ask Lily ? Ask Charlotte? Ask Alice?" Remus said incredulously, hardly believing, apparently, that James could suggest such a thing. It prided James that he could still create that look of disbelief and shock on Remus' face, even after the many years they had been friends.

"I still vote for getting her file, it will give us first hand FACTS about her." James said nonchalantly as he leant back from the bench and shrugged his shoulders like they were discussing something trivial rather than the idea of breaking into a professor's personal office.

"Moony, I'm with prongs, Lily hasn't spurted a word about Charlotte to any of us for six years, what makes you think she'll suddenly share with us?" James smiled his thanks towards Sirius, who simply winked in reply.

"She would tell me, if I asked," he pointed out with a raised brow towards James, who frowned in response.

"Yeah because you're so chummy." James muttered with his arms crossed over his chest, seething in derision. Remus may be one of his best mates, but he couldn't deny the annoyance that flared within him at how close he was with Lily.

Unlike James , who was only really seen as a creepy, immature stalker, Lily held actual conversations with Remus. They spent time together and enjoyed each other's company. Remus often speculated that James was being melodramatic, as he would never go after Lily in that way. If it were anyone else other than his darling flower, he'd encourage Moony and would even work a way with the other boys to hitch the two together somehow, maybe lock them in a broom closet for some alone time, but it was Lily and he couldn't really push the two together, no matter how much Lily seemed to dislike him.

Call him selfish, call him creepy. At least he was consistently persistent.

"Jealousy doesn't suit you James." Remus gave him a knowing smile that made James grimace and then scowl.

"Oh Shut up. This isn't about Lily at the moment, it's about Charlotte. Remus, I'll meet you halfway." Remus raised a brow in question, awaiting his placating idea. "All four of us will work on prying some information about Charlotte from Lily, Alice and Charlotte herself. If we don't manage to get much in, say... A week, we'll organise our little 'trip' into Minnie's office."

"I don't like it," Remus muttered with a shake of his head, making his sandy brown hair sit up slightly. James feared that if his brows lowered any further, they would suddenly disappear. He had thought a week would have been enough, but Remus certainly didn't seem to agree. "This isn't just breaking stupid school rules any more, this is stealing a private document from the school. If we get caught, we could be suspended or worse, expelled."

"I like the optimism," James commented with a laugh, silenced by the stern look from across the table.

"I'm just telling it as it is. Why is it so important to you that we get information on her?"

"Oh come on! don't tell me you're not just as curious!" James said with a roll of his eyes. This was very typical Remus. Looking for the deeper meaning for why James was doing something, why he looked at someone like that or why he spoke about that in a certain way.

James truly thought it would be rather obvious to all of them why it is so important they find the truth about who exactly Charlotte was. Her insane interest in Animagus made trouble for all of them, particularly Remus. They only became Animagi, after all, to be with him during the full moons. He would be devastated if Charlotte found out about his problem, even more so if it somehow got out to the school.

Obviously the whole, being shipped off to Azkaban for being illegal Animagi was also a bit of an issue for the boys. James doubted Charlotte would ever tell, but he couldn't be sure, especially considering how little they knew of her. Even the thought of Azkaban gave him chills, he wouldn't dare risk any of them going and seeing as it was he who made the deal with Charlotte, it seemed only acceptable that it was him who took the responsibility to make sure she was everything she said she was. For the sake of them all.

"James, this is beyond curiosity, and you know it. What's the real reason?" Remus speculated with furrowed brows, leaning against the table. Sirius and Pete gave muffled sounds of agreement that had James scoffing in annoyance.

"Look... We haven't known Charlotte that long, i know. From what i do know of her… i like her." He gave a simple shrug, shaking his head slightly. "She's funny and alright to talk to... Plus she is Lily's sister so she's practically my sister in law. Don't snort Sirius, it isn't a joke. I know you like her just as much as I do." Sirius didn't bother denying it.

"I don't like the idea that she is lying to us any more than any of you, and obviously the thought that Lily has lied to me, as well, is rather…. hurtful. But the simple truth is, she knows about _stuff_ that could get us all in a LOT of trouble. Its not just curiosity… I'm also being awfully cautious."

They all sat for awhile, simply mulling over and considering James' words. They knew he was right. Whether or not Remus liked it, they had to find more information on Charlotte. Now that he thought about it, he was a little annoyed that James had made the decision to tell her about being an Animagus on his own, without consulting the rest of the group. It affected them all and it was rather brash and stupid of James to just reveal a secret like that to a stranger.

Remus would have to remember to scold James about it later, because at the moment, he was considering his offer instead.

Remus was sure he could get something out of Lily in a week, enough to keep James from doing something utterly stupid and regretful that would no doubt land them _all_ in trouble. He and Lily's relationship could be labelled as casual friends/study partners, but they were friends long enough that he trusted her, and she offered the same trust and respect in return. Lily had also managed to keep his lycanthropy a secret for over a year, so he believed she had no ultimatum to lie to him.

He wouldn't lie and say he wasn't slightly wounded that Lily had never said a word about Charlotte, after all, she was meant to be her twin. It made more sense that something was wrong, then she had neglected to talk about her, after all, she had often spoken to him about her other sister, Petunia.

"I'll work on the Lily front considering she doesn't particularly like either of you," Both James and Sirius turned to each other, sharing looks of mock scandalization, to which Remus simply ignored with a roll of his dark brown eyes. "and Pete's too scared to talk to girls."

Sirius was about to protest Remus' statement, which they all knew would be a waste of time, as it was well known that Lily liked Sirius far less than she liked James, and that's saying something, but was interrupted by Pete, who's shocked expression was far more sincere than James and Sirius' looks combined.

"Hey! That's not true at all! I talked to Charlotte only just last night!" Pete said with a huff, crossing his arms on his chest. James couldn't help the ghost of a smile that travelled over his face as he looked at the smallest member of their group who held a small semblance of pride within his eyes.

James remembered the conversation he and Remus had shared that morning, recounting how excited Pete had been once he and Remus had returned to the common room several hours before both Sirius and James had. Apparently he had been rather proud that he had managed to hold a conversation, if you could call it that, with Charlotte the previous night.

"You weren't particularly kind…," Sirius pointed out with a cheeky smirk. He seemed to enjoy teasing the poor boy who had very well known issues when talking to girls, particularly ones that are as sharped tongued as Charlotte.

"No, you were rather rude…" James added, with a wink towards Sirius.

"Whatever, I still spoke to her." Pete muttered, avoiding the looks of amusement from his friends around him, instead choosing to grumble into his cup of juice. Even Remus seemed to think it rather entertaining.

"Okay, Sirius you talk to Alice, be nice and she'll open up to you, don't hit on her, she's with Frank... James you see what you can find from Charlotte, try not to be so damn suspicious. I'll talk to lily and Pete…" James, Sirius and Remus turned to look at Pete who still sat unimpressed at their earlier teasing, awaiting for his own task. James would have laughed at Remus' struggle to find something for the boy to do that didn't involve talking to others, but he knew how much it bothered Pete. "uh… you can hold onto the map and see where she's going during the week i suppose."

He seemed rather pleased with his duty, and brightened up instantly. James however, frowned, and turned to Remus, raising a brow in question.

"Should we really be watching what's she's doing? i mean… that seems like we are abusing the power of the map." James' eyes narrowed when each one of them either snorted, rolled their eyes or laughed lightly, Sirius managing all three. " _What_?!" He asked with his jaw gritted together tightly, not amused that he was being made fun of for a reason he couldn't fathom.

Hadn't they always told him that the map needed to be used for more 'mature' reasons? Was that not he was doing? being more mature and understanding for Charlotte's privacy.

"Prongs you spend the better half of most days staring at the map to 'observe' lily, At least we have a legitimate reason for watching Charlotte. What you do is just creepy."

James glared at Sirius watching as he simply laughed loudly in return, flicking back his long girly locks. If James wasn't aware of the consequences, he would probably send a quiet severing charm to his 'precious' hair. That would definitely teach him for making fun of James.

It wasn't that creepy that he watched where Lily went sometimes. James was ensuring her safety… and sometimes working out her schedule so that he could find the perfect time to catch her unawares and strike up a conversation when she wasn't around Alice, who always seemed to make fun of his attempts. Perhaps to others it seemed a little forward.. but it was different for him.

"Its not creepy if you fancy the girl," James stated bluntly. Sirius raised a single brown in a mocking look that mostly just aggravated him. He sent a hand through his thick hair, flattening it slightly as he thought about the difference in watching Charlotte and Lily. So maybe, just maybe, the more he thought about it, it would possibly be abusing the map more to be watching the girl you fancy. " Okay, Fair enough…" James muttered eventually, pouting his lips in annoyance when all three boys grinned at him in triumph.

"Pete, you update us on where Charlotte is in between lessons," Remus stated, packing up his books, a quill or two and an apple into his bag slung on his shoulder.

"How will I do that if we aren't in the same class?" Pete asked with a frown, one that deepened when Sirius and James stared at him with a look that conveyed ' _are you an idiot_ '. They only conversed one way when they weren't together, and that never changed. Still, James wasn't _that_ surprised he had forgotten, sadly enough.

"Parchment." Sirius and James said at the same time, james turned and gave Sirius a high five with a big grin on his face. Remus rolled his eyes.

James went to also pack up all his stuff, but stopped when he saw the guilty, embarrassed look on Petes face. "The parchment Pete! Don't tell me you lost it again" James groaned when Pete's cheeks burned a slight pink, indication enough that he most certainly had, lost that piece of invaluable parchment.

"Uh... Maybe?" Pete muttered softly, wincing when Sirius, Remus and James, again, groaned in succession.

If it was just a normal bit of parchment, they wouldn't make such a fuss. This however, was a specially charmed piece of parchment that when one wrote on it, it appeared on the other three, growing warm in your pocket to indicate its use. It took Remus weeks to work out the logistics of the spells, nothing in comparison to the map, but long enough that it wasn't exactly an easy catch of the snitch to make again.

This also wasn't the first time he had lost it, first time it had landed in the hands of a second year. You can imagine his surprise when James pulled out his own folded parchment, recognising the familiar warming of a message, only to find this message:

 **Wormtail would sincerely like to inform that: Angeline looked at me again! do you think she likes me?!**

 **She just asked for a quill, i don't think counts.**

"I'll work on making a new one... You lose this one again, and I won't be making another one," Remus advised sullenly, not overly enthused at the added weight on his schedule. Technically they should all be studying at the moment, but James strategically blocked out Remus' voice whenever he used the words ' _study'_ , ' _tests'_ or ' _failure'_. So far, it was working for him.

Peter simply nodded and rushed to pack up all his stuff, clearly feeling bad about losing the enchanted paper again. With a deep sigh, James clasped his shoulder using his right hand, giving him a small smile and squeeze, watching as Pete's frown dissipated slowly, turning into a smile of his own. He let go of his shoulder and grabbed his bag, slinging it over his head and standing up from the table. The great hall was almost half cleared now, with mainly gryffindors and hufflepuffs left sitting at the long tables.

"Lets go ladies, we've got a lot to do before tonight."

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 **Hello lovelies.**

 **Sorry I haven't been able to update, just got my wisdom teeth removed surgically and was on painkillers for 2 weeks... Not the best environment to be writing unfortunately. I have been editing this story for SO LONG! i just haven't gotten it to a place where its… right. so i probably will edit it more even after i post it haha ;)**

 **This was just a small filler before I upload the massive chapter, no idea why it's so big, it just is, okay!**

 **By the time I update chapter 11, my story will be around 80-90,000 words and good lord I have no idea why the hell it is so big !**

 **So I hit 100 followers for this story the other day and I may have peed my pants a little. Thank you everyone for your support, I don't think you understand how much it means to me that people actually follow/favourite and review this story because I always have so many doubts then I suddenly get an email saying someone followed my story and it just makes me so happy !**

 **So this chapter we see the marauders doubting Charlotte's validity, which is totally understandable because how the hell have they not known of her existence!**

 **I PROMISE that after chapter 12, things will speed up a little. A lot less dialogue because I do so much at the moment that probably isn't necessary aha. I'll do bits that are necessary to the story only.**

 **REVIEW TIME!**

 **Guest review 6 ~** aww I'm glad you liked the chapter, even if I didn't aha xx I honestly wasn't sure how I should approach James' character because your right, I've always thought of him as a goofy character yet he's somewhat the 'leader' of the group, so I made him sensible to balance the two out :)

 **Vanessa ~** Aw thankyou ! You're right, I don't particularly want to share with everyone what the ending will be, as it spoils the fun of surprises. Possibly if you had used your account name instead of the one you chose, I could have PM'd you a little to give a brief overview, but never mind. I will tell you that Charlotte does not die. It's hard to not spoil anything because I have a story plan that goes all the way to the Harry Potter series, so I can't really say at the moment... PM me if you need more details that I would be happy to supply.

 **Eyesthetic & Callmemaybe02 & Guest7 & Karbear10 & Triplesmashtwins ~ **Thank you for your reviews, I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter xx

 **.02 ~** Technically it wasn't a cliffhanger. I left you feeling confused, but not in suspense. I do love my cliffhangers though ;)

 **Forgetthemonsters ~** Thanks Hun for your praise. If you would believe it, I check my alerts like 8 times a day to see if anyone has reviewed/followed or favorited, so I know how you feel aha. If you hit me with a PM, I'd be glad to send you a few JP/OC's that I like :)

 **Bridgetlynn** I know I technically already answered your review, I thought I'd respond here as well so people can see my answers :) As I already said, I like your thought pattern when it comes to what the hell is wrong with Charlotte. Everyone check out her review to see her guesses. I'm not going to say if any of them are right, but I will say I was impressed with what you wrote.

 **Fabulous ~** I'm sorry to say that this story won't be a JP/LE. They have their moments, but in the end, as I have i have put in the brief summary, it is a JP/OC.

 **Guest review 8 ~** Well I certainly agree with your view on Lily aha Thanks for your tips on the characters, I'll try and make them a little more prominent in future chapters. I'm not going to lie, I suck at comedy, so I'll do my best to add humour... But like I said, my best ain't all that good. Yeah weird stuff is happening, make sure you follow so you will be able to see why exactly everyone forgets Charlotte ! Thank you for your unicorn approval haha Believe it or not the Sirius and Charlotte shipping was accidental, I didn't at all mean for them to get close. But I'm running with it instead of changing anything :)

 **13 reviews for chapter 9, WOWSERS! KEEP IT UP**

 **XXXX**


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary:**

 **There were many reasons Charlotte was the way she was. Mainly it was her 40 minute older sister Lily Evans. Lily was gorgeous, intelligent, witty and charming. Charlotte was sort of pretty; smart when she tried hard enough, highly sarcastic and unsociable. Charlotte was also virtually invisible behind her sister's stunning shadow. Every year she was in the same classes as her sister, and every year she found herself friendless and slightly more narcissistic than the year earlier. Well, it's their sixth year and Charlotte had long since given up the complexities of friendship in favour of interesting sorts of magic she wondered upon in the restricted section of the school library( and an alcohol habit she had yet to kick). That's where a desperate and ever charming James Potter comes in. Potter obviously doesn't understand the word 'Never' as he continues to try and win over Lily. Seemingly as a last resort, he corners Charlotte and begs her to help him. Not being one to give others false hope, she tells him to shove it where even** _ **lumos**_ **doesn't shine. However a fateful meeting in a darkened library reveals that Potter and Charlotte may have more in common that Charlotte had ever hoped. They fortify a deal which is beneficial to both parties, with one main rule. DO NOT TELL LILY.**

 **Chapter Eleven - Lace, Lies and Lilys Egocentricity**

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(-Charlotte-)

Needless to say, all it took was a pepperup potion and a few hours of rest and Charlotte could almost forget about her odd sickness just after lunch.

She had managed to miss several classes and she couldn't say she wasn't at least partially relieved. On the one hand, it was nice having a break from studying endlessly in the hopes of besting Lily, which, to be perfectly honest, wasn't exactly going to happen any time soon, but there was also the fear that a single mark against her would put her even further down.

Maybe Charlotte could never be number 1 in her classes, perhaps she would always be second best to her sister, but at least she had that. If she fell even further behind, she couldn't imagine what nonsense Lily would throw at her. She'd probably offer to tutor her or something as ridiculous just to spite Charlotte. Rub it in that she was smarter whilst looking like the darling sweet sister who helps out her mentally challenged twin who will never be smarter than her.

Potter and his friends were surprisingly vacant from dinner, likely off preparing the common room for Remus' party. Therefore Charlotte was re-welcomed into the familiar surroundings of utter solitude and social rejection. She was rather thankful considering she was still a tad pissed at potter for his ignorantly stupid comment that morning, and much preferred the quiet. Not one person glanced her way that evening, not even Lily. The fourth years she had sat next to gave her an odd look, but soon ignored her as everyone else did.

Yes, life truly was back to normal for Charlotte.

5 pages into her Animagus book, which she had managed to read openly without a single raised brow, and all she had really learnt was that many, many… many people have suffered rather odd and terrifying consequences from attempting to transfigure into their Animagi form without being prepared. Though it didn't exactly describe how exactly one should be 'prepared'

Honestly, the more Charlotte read, the more she realised the book was utter nonsense. Alas, Charlotte was a woman who refused to fully rely on anyone. She was stubborn and had serious trust issues that withheld her from simply accepting Potter's help without all the doubts and fears that the idiot knew what he was doing. After all, it's not like she was trying this dangerous magic with a famous wizard or professor. This was James Potter. Womaniser, Quidditch player, prank puller and occasional bully who had a seriously disturbing attachment to Charlotte's twin. What exactly could she trust?

Along with the consequences, in her book, came an example of each. Whilst nibbling away at her cinnamon swirl, Charlotte read the story of a witch who hadn't taken all the correct steps whilst transfiguring and was therefore unable to shift back into her human form. She had to be magically altered at a healer's hospital and even then she retained certain aspects of her Animagi form which happened to be an armadillo. Whatever that was.

It was fairly safe to say that Charlotte was both terrified and excited to finally be working on Animagus with Potter the next day. He hadn't yet told her any details, and she only hoped he hadn't forgotten. Considering she had been doing her best to avoid him all morning, he likely could have wanted to talk to her about it and she simply never gave him the chance. However she knew of his uncanny ability to find Lily wherever she was, almost anytime of the day, so Charlotte doubted that her avoidance skills were as good as she thought.

Her dinner went by mostly normal with the lack of certain individuals who always made meals more dramatic and memorable then they needed to be, and she almost found herself missing the yelling and food fights. Almost. She had been transcribing a sentence, the book sitting lazily in her left hand whilst she ate with her right, when she noticed some scribbles in the borders. Now the book itself was clearly old and handwritten, likely an only copy or at least a horribly printed copy as the words were skewed and nearly indecipherable. Theses scribbles were, however, neat. Italic writing using a quill and ink, written along the inside and outside border of some of the pages.

They were notes, pointers really, that summarised each page into a simple sentence. A whole page of long barely decipherable words were simplified into: ' _don't try in any order other than the one previously known to work best'_ and ' _If accidental transfiguration occurs, panicking will only prolong the inability to change_ back'.

It wasn't written on every page, but enough pages that Charlotte herself copied out the mystery student's transcription into her own notebook. As helpful as the mystery people' writing was, it merely raised more questions as to who had borrowed the book out for so long when she had been trying to borrow it, and why they needed it at all. If these notes were theirs, were they themselves Animagi? Was it Potter?

Several times, when she made the regrettable mistake of looking up from her book and notes for a few seconds, Charlotte accidentally caught the eyes of her sister down the end of Gryffindor table. Lily was apparently trying to use twin telepathy as her facial features were moving as though she was talking, yet she never opened her mouth. Her perfectly shaped eyebrows were screwed up in concentration as she focused her forest green eyes on Charlotte. All Charlotte could really do was stare at her with a dumbstruck expression, shake her head and look back down towards her notebook.

Lily was probably just trying to communicate an apology without ACTUALLY apologising. Because apologising for being an utter git is too demoralising for someone like Lily. Lily Evans was crafty if nothing else, and managed to work her way out of doing anything she didn't want to do.

Charlotte refused to meet her eyes after that, deciding, quite immaturely, that if she wanted to fix things, she would be the one to approach Charlotte not the other way around. Too many times Charlotte had fixed things with Lily, apologising for something she hadn't done, or wasn't her fault just so her sister would stop ignoring her. Charlotte had been fairly desperate for any social interaction, even if it meant boosting her sister's ego.

Considering she now sat alone and was without the company of the bothersome duo and their friends, Charlotte's dinner went by pleasantly fast, and she found herself back in her dorm room, finishing a 6ft essay on mandrakes for Herbology. Thankfully her astronomy class wasn't on tonight, as she would likely consider skipping as she couldn't stand being in a classroom for a single moment more that day.

Now all she really had to do was decide whether or not she would be joining the rest of her house and year for the party in the common room.

It wasn't like she owed it to Remus to come, she hardly knew the bloke. All she knew of him came from Lily, and all he knew of her came from Potter and Sirius. They were strangers and Charlotte knew that he wouldn't even notice her presence whether she came or chose to not come.

In that respect, she was considering simply spending the night in the library or her dorm room, doing some study, readying over her Animagus book and catching up on some much needed sleep that she had seemed to miss for weeks, though the memory of her and Lily's fight just a few days ago popped into her mind like a small reminder.

Would she really go to the party just to spite her sister and prove she held no authority over her? Was she truly that self-absorbed and childish? Charlotte is 17, and considered an adult in the magical world so she had to think hard on whether or not she was showing the maturity of her age by doing something so petty.

In the end, both options seemed to be a waste of time, and she wouldn't exactly enjoy herself either way. Though attending the party did have the positive aspect of free alcohol.

Charlotte couldn't help but appreciate how beautiful the material was. Black lace woven into floral patterns, loosely stitched onto a silk slip. She may not be a girly girl, or one who at least wore dresses often, but she was practically tearing off her robes in order to wear her new dress.

When she had first bought it, it had been a mangy old thing from a second hand store in muggle London which she had walked past during her and Lily's Christmas break. They often went to London on shopping trips and this particular time they had split up so shopping would be faster.

Also because Lily was complaining and Charlotte couldn't handle her whining for a single moment more.

It was extremely cold, and Charlotte had just popped into the shop for a few moments in the hopes it would warm her up enough that she wouldn't become a capsicle. She had made the horrid mistake of allowing Lily to dress her that morning, meaning she was wearing a skirt, blouse, stockings get and long coat and scarf. Not typically the right fashion for a December morning. Had she had it her way, she would have happily worn several shirts and trousers, not caring for colour combination of whether it flattered her. In the end, she just wanted to be warm.

The store she had stopped at instantly reminded her of a shop you would find in Knockturn Alley. Dark dingy and an odd smell that circled its walls. She was proven to be incorrect when a kind woman had greeted her and struck up a small conversation. Nothing important of course, just about the weather and what she was doing out in the 'bliming Storm'. Having taken a liking to Charlotte for some odd reason, she said that she could have a discount on anything she purchased from the store.

Charlotte wanted to refuse, looking around and seeing nothing but junk, but the hopeful look on the owner's face only pushed her to gladly accept. Over and over she walked through the few eyls, looking through clothing, books and such. Nothing caught her eye. Nothing that she would want for herself or as a present to someone else at least. She had almost left the store with nothing in hand when she saw it hanging on a coat hanger behind several old torn coats.

It was a black wedding gown, a surprising colour considering she knew most muggles preferred white as their colour choice. The design had her fascinated and she found herself pulling the gown out to inspect it further. It was damaged of course, the train ripped and worn and the fabric hanging in jagged edges at the bottom. The lace work was fine and detailed and other than the bottom half, it was in pristine condition. The sleeves were cinched around the biceps and loosened at the elbow to flow out in waves, reminding her of gushing black ink. The collar was high and sharp and reminded Charlotte instantly of something you'd expect a goth to wear, however the entire frame of the dress was far too elegant to suggest that at all. The entire thing was elegant and beautiful and Charlotte could barely take her eyes off of it.

Eventually she ended up buying the gown, not bothering to try it on for size or to see if it looked any good on her frame. It wasn't every day that Charlotte Evans saw clothing that she actually liked, much preferring to buy clothes which simply suited the weather or occasion. She hadn't shown Lily, nor did she tell her anything about why she only had one bag in hand and no presents for anyone else, she simply asked if they could go out again to finish their shopping. Reluctantly her sister agreed and they made their way home.

Charlotte's mother, Rose, didn't often take the time to bond with her as she was always doing something else. She was a hard working woman and both she and Charlotte's Father, Richard, did all they could to provide for their children. That's the reason they gave Charlotte at least.

Charlotte had a feeling her parents didn't like her very much. It wasn't that they mistreated her, yelled at her or were anything other than the perfect parents to their three daughters. It was the looks they often gave her when they thought she couldn't see. Their confusion, annoyance, distrust. How they would confuse her name or forget her birthday present yet remember Lily's. How they never owled her when she saw letters arriving every 2 weeks for Lily.

However, as Charlotte came home with the lace gown, her mother was surprisingly affectionate. She had taken the opportunity to ask her to adjust the dress to something more appropriate and she had excitedly accepted. Many days later, her lace gown was transformed into a dress which flew just an inch or two above her knees, all lace patched and darkened, looking very much like a new dress. It wasn't a dress that she had ever seen before and she truly doubted that it was anything close to the fashion tastes of her age, however it was simply the nicest piece of clothing she had ever owned.

She had taken the dress with her to Hogwarts at the beginning of their sixth year, doubting she would ever need it and hopeful she would, all the same. Months past and it had remained in the bottom of her trunks under her bed, too embarrassed to have it sitting in her wardrobe knowing Lily would surely question her if she saw it.

Charlotte quite honestly never expected that she would willingly wear it to a party. That's what girls did her age right? Wear pretty dresses?

Had Lily not left the dorm over an hour ago saying she would get ready with Alice Longbottom, a blue dress draped over her arm, Charlotte likely would have turned up to the common room in jeans.

Her stomach was fluttering uncomfortably and her hands were sweating as she looked at the small lace garb flounced across her bed. It was hard to admit that she was afraid to wear it. She was growing more anxious just looking at it sitting on her bed. All she could really think about was that this would be her first party where she hadn't been dragged along by her sister. She had been invited by Remus and he wanted her to go.

With trepidation, she took off her school robes, not bothering where it landed on the dorm room floor, and lifted the black dress so it encased her vision. Gingerly she slipped into the dress and zipped up the back so it closed around her. Just as she had expected when she saw it, it was tight around the neckline and arms only to flow out everywhere else.

Charlotte had still yet to see the dress on her in a mirror, deciding to do her hair and fix her face first. If she was wearing a dress, she might as well go all out.

She found herself staring at her face in the mirror with a frown. There wasn't exactly much she could do considering she didn't exactly own a lot of makeup and any charm spells she had learnt were all very basic and meant for taming her wild hair.

When Charlotte exited the bathroom, she had willed her dark blonde hair to fall in soft waves down her back, stopping just above her waist. She had a small amount of mascara on, and she had lined her top lashes with a blue eyeliner, a shade or two brighter than her eyes.

Even as she stood frowning at the mirror before her, she couldn't help but accept that she looked surprisingly good. Her frown vanished the longer she looked at herself. She looked better than good.

Her slight smile dropped instantly as she heard rather than saw her dorm room door open and her sister walk in.

"Charlotte," Lily said in surprise, her bright green eyes trailing from Charlotte's face down to the dress she wore and the modest heels gracing her feet. Charlotte visually bristled against her twins scrutiny and obvious distaste for her appearance. Lily had disapproved what she had worn, quite clearly by the frown and raised brow on her face. "What… are you wearing?"

Lily, unlike Charlotte, looked far brighter in her attire. Her blue dress as a sweetheart neckline that emphasised her collarbone and shoulders, the bottom dancing around her knees. She had a white jacket around only adding to make Lily look all the more pretty. Her green eyes were emphasised stunningly by the similar blue to her dress eye shadow. Simply put, Lily looked very pretty. Her red hair was in its usual ringlets around her shoulders and a simple blue bow was on top of her hair. Lily seemed to be the pinnacle image of the ideal woman, whereas Charlotte was quite clearly wearing something that was both not in fashion, and sitting on the very edge of inappropriateness according to the height of the dress.

"Uh... a dress?" Charlotte grumbled sarcastically, practically seething at Lily's clear judgemental glances. Any happiness at her appearance, which she had only moments ago, quickly slipped away at her sister's disapproval. She knew that what she was wearing wasn't common, and Lily wasn't used to seeing her sister in a dress and so much black when every teenager their age wore as much colour as they could, but she had thought she would at least compliment her, after all, she was her sister. Perhaps that had been asking too much. "For someone who always boasts about her outstanding marks, you can often be rather daft lily," Charlotte snapped, growling when her sister rolled her perfectly lined eyes.

"Why are you wearing a dress?" Lily clarified, crossing her arms on her chest, barely ruffling the soft fabric underneath.

Charlotte considered retorting sarcastically again, but that would never work with Lily. Lily was the crowned ruler of all things argumentative. She was cool and smart, rebuking Charlotte for her immaturity or bitterness. Whenever Charlotte tried this tactic, she always lost. It was simple a lost cause.

"Lily, please." Charlotte said with a sigh, sitting on the edge of her bed, brushing out the lace of her dress so it puddled around her like a darkened cloud. "Not tonight."

Lily watched her for a few moments, her bright eyes not moving from their fixed position, before speaking again. "Charlotte I really don't think you should be going.''

Charlotte struggled to fight against her annoyance and begin yet another fight with Lily. What had it been, 2? Maybe 3 days, since they had spoken a word to each other. That wasn't the longest time they had been fighting, but it was certainly the most serious they had been. Charlotte didn't expect an apology from Lily, in any form, as it wasn't like Lily to admit to being wrong or rude. She thought herself to be the perfect example of a kind and affectionate sister.

"I know that Lily, but I want to." Charlotte's voice was soft, and she only hoped that Lily wouldn't hear the desperation behind her sincere plea. She wasn't really that interested in participating in the festivities of tonight, but she wanted the freedom that came along with being able to go. Charlotte wasn't often invited to these sort of things, parties. She never went because she had never really been invited. Of course lily would tell her she was being silly, and if she could go, of course Charlotte could also attend. However attending something simply because Lily pitied her wasn't exactly an idea of a exciting night for Charlotte.

She was technically lying when she said she 'wanted to go'. Part of her was a little bit interested in going, seeing what nonsense would be going on in the common rooms late at night. Charlotte also knew that no one would know who she was when she entered the common room, and she would be practically stranded without Lily. Charlotte would have to entertain herself for the night, all whilst resisting the temptation to knock back a few shots of firewhiskey. No, she wasn't particularly fanatical about going tonight, but Potter, Sirius and even Remus personally asked her to go. She couldn't think of a polite reason not to go, so she really had no choice. "Remus is kind of cool, and i won't drink okay?"

"I'll be watching you," Lily stated simply her eyes narrowed on Charlotte's form which sat on her bed. Charlotte rolled her eyes and pushed herself from the bed and stood up, brushing down her skirt and tossing back her hair that was ALREADY knotting again. So much for that stupid spell.

"Because that's not creepy at all," Charlotte muttered whilst looking at the floor length mirror near their bathroom. A clearly frustrated girl stared back at her, and Charlotte desperately attempted to remove the lines on her forehead, to no avail. Lily was getting on her nerves, and it was becoming surprising that only a few days ago they had been friendly towards each other. Lily may be Charlotte's only friend most of the time, but the rest of that time, she seemed to be her enemy.

"Please Lottie; you don't understand how hard it was for me to hear about your drinking problem." Charlotte turned slowly, her brows furrowed and a facial expression that could only be described as _are you shitting me?_

She should have left it there. Charlotte should have just walked out of that room that instant and just left Lily standing there, but she couldn't. The sad thing was, that Charlotte wasn't even surprise that Lily managed to make her alcohol abuse about her. If anything it was typical, and therefore she really should have just left it.

"Are you..." Charlotte paused to collect herself before she started screaming at Lily like a banshee. She cleared her throat and ran a hand through her hair before continuing. "With all due respect, my dear sister, I really don't give a sod how 'hard' it was for you."

Charlotte's comment seemed to fly over Lily's pretty little head as not even a flicker of annoyance or anger came over her at Charlotte's words. In fact she seemed deep in thought.

"Well perhaps if someone gave me an idea as to why you drank yourself unconscious all the time, I would have a better understanding and wouldn't bring it up so often," Lily muttered with a huff, crossing her arms daintily against her chest and pursing her lips in annoyance. Charlotte sighed deeply, slowly, and forcefully out her mouth.

Just like the past few months she easily could have lied, or just withheld the truth from Lily. But honestly, she was a little too tired of fighting with Lily to come up with a believable enough story.

"If you aren't aware Lily, I'm not exactly miss teen witch. I don't have any friends to speak of. You will never understand what it is like to have no one, no one who cares about you." Charlotte's answer came out in a slight whisper.

"Who are me, mum and pa?" Lily asked incredulously, to which Charlotte could only sigh again in return.

"You are my family, therefore it's practically your obligation to care about me," Charlotte drooled with derision rolling her eyes and shaking her head, already regretfully feeling her loose curls flatten and knot themselves. Damn Lily. "I was lonely and confused, I didn't understand why everyone acted like I didn't exist. Now, I just pretend everyone else doesn't exist and I'm not bothered."

Charlotte was pained to even think about the times where she felt so neglected and disjointed from the world. That's not to say it's any better now, rather she simply didn't care any more.

"Seriously?" Charlotte's head snapped up at Lily's sarcastic tone and she watched as Lily shook her head in disbelief. "Charlotte you almost died from alcohol consumption because you were... Lonely? How selfish can you bloody be! Do you know how that would effect our family if you just decided to.. to off yourself!"

Charlotte couldn't believe her ears, in fact had she not of seen Lily's mouth move in time with her words, she'd simply have to assume that everything she was hearing was a lie. But no, unfortunately Lily was saying what she thought she was saying.

How lily always managed to make every situation about her, Charlotte would never understand. It was like a hidden talent she reserved for those few times that Charlotte actually needed an ounce of compassion from her sister.

Charlotte's response was so soft and mumbled that Lily stood rolling her eyes near the doorway, annoyed at her sister's sudden soft voice. Charlotte had never been one to be tentative, so Lily simply assumed that she was only doing it to further frustrate her sister.

"Would you speak up please?" Lily's tone implied not only impatience but obedience from Charlotte. Instantly Charlotte's eyes widened and snapped up to meet Lily's.

She stood from her bed and calmly flattened out her dress, patting her hair down before walking towards the door. She struggled against avoiding Lily's gaze which she could practically feel burning through her soul, refusing to remove her eyes from her sister, not wanting to show an ounce of weakness.

Slowly, quietly she stepped up towards her sister and smiled softly. Lily's face screwed up slightly in confusion before she heard Charlotte's last parting words before leaving the room.

"Fuck you Lily."

The slam of the Evans twins dorm door could be heard from all the way down in the dungeons, and Charlotte didn't give a single toss about how loud it was or if she'd managed to break the bloody door. In fact, if the doors didn't have protective enchantments all over them, she would have no doubt that the door would be in splinters.

Lily was certainly no stranger to Charlotte's colourful language, and she made sure to disapprove of it whenever Charlotte shot out expletives. Therefore to her advantage, Charlotte used every chance she could to swear at Lily, knowing it burned her very core to hear such 'foul admonitions.'

Though Charlotte could feel a fiery anger reside in her chest, the walk down to the common room had all but extinguished it, leaving behind a trail of sadness.

Charlotte and Lily would have their times of closeness, when they shared almost everything and could spend time together easily, but they were too few and short to make up for the hurt she felt Lily put her through each week.

Charlotte hated being alone, but for once, she decided that being alone would be preferable to being around Lily who, more often than not, acted like a selfish, stuck up git.

Not for the first time, and certainly not the last, Charlotte wondered what James Potter saw in her sister.

* * *

 **Hello !**

 **Everyone is so darn suspicious of Lily! I love it.**

 **I know this is a short chapter and not much is happening, but you know that 20,000 word chapter I said I have ? Yeah well i'm breaking it up and taking out the stuff not needed and uploading it in smaller bits because half of what I write is utter nonsense aha**

 **Okay this is a very serious question that I must ask and you MUST answer. I wasn't originally going to have a romantic interest other than James for Charlotte, However their relationship won't hit off for a LONG time. We are talking LOOOOOOONG.**

 **SO**

 **do you think Charlotte should have a romantic interest? Someone to keep her busy or make James jealous aha.**

 **If you think It's a good idea, post in reviews who you think I should pair her with for the meantime. Obviously it's a JP/OC fic, but I don't see the harm in letting Charlotte have a little 'somfin somfin' before James ;)**

 **My personal thought was Sirius, but I dunno... Should I throw in another OC?**

 **REVIEW TIME:**

 **Reincarnated Koala ~** Wow that was one loooong review. I liked your ideas, and i agree with your suspicion! I always found Lily's hatred for James to be odd… then her decision to end her friendship with Severus… and then suddenly she's in love with James… like WHAAAAT. All shall be revealed in due time :D

 **Xaiban ~** Aw thanks for your concern, surgery was actually rather interesting haha. Hmm… i like your theories as well. Honestly i just love how everyone has jumped aboard the 'I HATE LILY' train XD Good to hear you are enjoying the story, thanks for your review! x

.129MUAHAHHAHA i shall never reveal my secrets! nahhh but if you really want to know and it's killing you so much you don't want to read anymore, just pm me and ill give you some hints ;) x

 **EVERYONE ELSE WHO IS SUSPICIOUS OF LILY ~** I applaud your suspicion ( cause i don't like lily) , though i shant tell you if your correct! Thanks for all your funny reviews :))) xxxx

 **And btw... This story is T because there will be language throughout the entirety, so if your ears are fragile... Leave!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary:**  
 **There were many reasons Charlotte was the way she was. Mainly it was her 40 minute older sister Lily Evans. Lily was gorgeous, intelligent, witty and charming. Charlotte was sort of pretty; smart when she tried hard enough, highly sarcastic and unsociable. Charlotte was also virtually invisible behind her sister's stunning shadow. Every year she was in the same classes as her sister, and every year she found herself friendless and slightly more narcissistic than the year earlier. Well, it's their sixth year and Charlotte had long since given up the complexities of friendship in favour of interesting sorts of magic she wondered upon in the restricted section of the school library( and an alcohol habit she had yet to kick). That's where a desperate and ever charming James Potter comes in. Potter obviously doesn't understand the word 'Never' as he continues to try and win over Lily. Seemingly as a last resort, he corners Charlotte and begs her to help him. Not being one to give others false hope, she tells him to shove it where even lumos doesn't shine. However a fateful meeting in a darkened library reveals that Potter and Charlotte may have more in common that Charlotte had ever hoped. They fortify a deal which is beneficial to both parties, with one main rule. DO NOT TELL LILY.**

 **Chapter Twelve- Senseless Squabbles**

* * *

(-Charlotte-)

40 minutes. 2,400 seconds. Lily bloody Evans was only 2,400 seconds older than Charlotte and she had the audacity… the nerve, to demand her around like a bloody house elf. Though Charlotte was certain that the 2,400 seconds were pure torture for her mother, she failed to see the relevance of those seconds in Lily's authority over her.

If Charlotte was as smart as she always strived to be, she wouldn't rise to her sister's bait. She certainly wasn't stupid. She saw Lily's enjoyment, that slight flicker of mirth when she found incident to scold Charlotte. Fighting her against it only seemed to make things worse, but what was she honestly meant to do?

"Stupid perfect Lily, with her stupid perfect hair and stupid perfect life."

Charlotte's mutters went by, mostly unheard as she made her way out of the dorm hallway. Her muscles strained in her neck, a physical sign of her lack of sleep and stress that she constantly chose to ignore by rolling her shoulders back in aggravation. It did the job for awhile.

"How does someone even get hair that sits that curly," she muttered, grabbing a strand of dark blonde hair that was flat and knotty. "And where the hell did she get her red hair, no one else in our family has bloody red hair." Charlotte arguing with herself was a little too normal to be considered normal, and she found herself wondering how Lily always managed to make her seem like a lunatic.

Charlotte stood at the top of the spiral stairs for a few moments regretting her decision to come. Not that she could do anything about it anyway. She couldn't go back to her room, Lily was there. She couldn't leave the common room because that would entail having to walk through the mass of people and she'd be risking having someone see her leave. A Very tiny minuscule risk seeing as hardly anyone generally noticed her, but she did have a slightly larger friend group right now. That's right, she was now considering people who weren't Lily friends, will wonders never cease.

With a loud groan and a few muttered profanities, she took the first step.

Charlotte's small heels stomping down the stairs with an obnoxious 'clack' seemed to break the silence of the common room, and she realised with bitter cynicism that she should have instead jumped out one of the tower windows and hoped she ended up okay.

It wasn't dead quiet of course, there was music playing in the background, which would be hardly audible outside the sound barrier enchanted around the common room, however, even within the enchantment, the song was quiet enough that Charlotte knew as soon as she entered the common room that almost everyone had heard the dorm room slam. By the looks they all gave her, she knew instantly that her peers knew very well that it was her who had made the loud noise.

Charlotte paused on the stairs when she felt the many pairs of eyes watching in her in confusion, annoyance and curiosity.

'Probably wondering who the hell I am' Charlotte thought with a snort, finally stepping all the way down into the common room, thankfully ending the loudness of her ridiculous shoes. Ridiculous painful shoes that were starting to turn her ankles raw.

She had assumed that by the time she had made her way down, the party guests and her peers would have had the ability to remove their stares, If not to be polite. But no, they were all still staring and the music in the background somehow managed to turn comical, as though it was only playing to show to Charlotte how silent and awkward it truly was.

One would think Charlotte would grown accustomed to such awkward situations, considering how she managed to frequently find herself in them, but still, each time, she found herself embarrassed and unprepared.

Charlotte could feel the blush growing up her chest towards her cheeks and ears the longer she stood at the foot of the stairs, as everyone's attention was caught on her. Did they truly intend to continue to stare at her? Her embarrassment quickly vanished, replaced by annoyance. She was openly glaring now, but still their eyes didn't move.

"What the hell are you all looking at?" Charlotte snapped, throwing daggers with her dark blue eyes at as many people as she could until they all looked away rather awkwardly. A few resisted her glare, looking with open curiosity. She had to put in a little more effort with those ones, glaring until they too, looked away.

Charlotte deflated in relief, feeling her shoulders drop from their hunched position, but still sent a fiery glance to anyone who let their eyes drift back towards her, even for a second.

Now that everyone wasn't staring at her, she was able to see who was actually in the room.

Slowly, one by one, she noted all the faces within the crowd not that surprised when she was able to remember every single one of their names. She didn't have a fantastic memory, nor was she good with faces. Charlotte did, however, remember all the unfortunate times she had attempted to make friends to so many of the students before her, failing epically. The only vice in the situation, was that no one ever seemed to remember her embarrassing attempts, and all was simply forgotten.

She'd bet a million galleons that not a single one of them other than Alice, Lily, Potter and his friends could guess who she was. Her private joke seemed rather bittersweet.

Charlotte took a few hesitant steps towards the drinks table to her right which currently had no students surrounding it and surveyed its contents. There were a fair few bottles of firewhiskey, some butterbeer and pumpkin juice. Of course in her mind, she remembered her promise to Lily to not drink anything alcoholic, and then she also remembered how bitchy Lily had acted shortly afterwards. Her hand moved out and grabbed a bottle of its own accord, spitting Lily with childish vengeance even though it was fairly likely that if anyone was affected by Charlotte's drinking, it would be Charlotte herself.

The alcohol bottles had charms placed over them so that anyone under the age of 17 couldn't even touch the bottles without being shocked quite viciously. A smart move considering most underage students would likely try to at least take a sip of the drink.

As she poured herself a glass, she wondered who it was that did the charms, or whether they were bought with the enchantments already on the bottles. Charlotte drank some of her drink, and happily let her thoughts drift away from anything to do with Lily and her penchant for making her angry, Potter and his stupid deal and the nagging feeling she had at the back of her mind about something she couldn't name.

(-James-)

James watched in curiosity as Charlotte made her way towards the drinks table, not yet seeing him watch her. His back was against the wall and his head was only slightly tilted above the rest as he watched her pour a drink. She made quite an entrance.

At first, he hadn't been sure it was her. She looked... Well James was certainly struggling for the right word for how she looked, but he was certain she looked different. She had taken a greater amount of care in her appearance, that much he was certain.

She almost seemed pretty at the moment. 'Not that she wasn't before,' James thought with consideration, watching as she poured herself another drink and looked around the room warily. James just didn't really think about Charlotte all too often for her appearance. Half of the time her hair was in a knotted mess, she stared passive aggressively at almost everything with an annoyed scowl and gave off an aura of distrust for anyone who stepped before her. Then there was the issue with her sudden appearance and her odd interest in Animagi. The fact that he couldn't find anyone other than Alice and Lily who had heard of her was also somewhat worrisome. Nothing about Charlotte seemed simple or straightforward. Nothing about her that he could find trustworthy.

Not anything like Lily...

James sighed deeply and smiled fondly as he pictured the red head captivating his thoughts, who had yet to make an entrance like her sister. Lily always looked utterly perfect, even when she was shouting spiteful words at him. Half of the time he could hardly hear what she was saying because he was too enthralled by her beauty. Lily's aura, unlike Charlotte's, was awfully inviting. Everyone seemed to flock towards Lily as though she was a beacon. It was one of the things James loved about her.

James shook his head, ridding his thoughts of his beautiful witch from his mind. It seemed he was having to do that more and more lately. One minute he would be thinking of Quidditch or the dungbombs he planted in the girl's bathroom, even when he thought of Charlotte for a moment, and suddenly out of nowhere his attention would be brought to Lily. He didn't mind it at all, but apparently it was becoming increasingly annoying to everyone else who had to put up with his sighing and his penchant for walking into things whilst distracted.

Sirius had even told him he had to snap out of it, several times during the week. Sirius didn't exactly think awfully high of Lily, nor did Lily of him now that he thought of it. They never fought or were openly disregarding, just rather distrustful of each other. Sirius didn't seem to conceal his feelings for Lily, often proclaiming that something was shoved firmly up a part of her anatomy on a constant basis. James never found it funny, but he apparently got a good laugh out of the disapproving look both he and Remus gave him.

His eyes refocused on Charlotte who was still next to the drinks table with a drink in hand. She threw her head back and drunk the rest of her drink in one go, and James could feel his eyebrows shoot up in surprise. Just as she had at the three broomsticks, Charlotte drowned the alcohol as though it was nothing, barely wincing when she swallowed. He himself has had his fair share of firewhiskey, and knew from experience it was no butterbeer which tasted far better than the name suggested.

James watched with a growing frown as she glared at the people around her, pouring more fire whiskey into her cup. If it wasn't clear she had a certain affinity with alcoholic beverages, it definitely was now.

From her somewhat awkward entrance into the common room, and the loud bang that had occurred only moments before, he was fairly certain that she slammed a door shortly before making her way down. If her anger was a sign to be accounted, then it was almost definite that she had been the cause. Charlotte then went on to yell at all Remus' party guests for staring at her, which was fair enough really. They had stared at her for a little longer than necessary. Sure, her entrance was dramatic, but half of the common room acted like they had never seen her before. Just another thing which made Charlotte seems odd.

James needed to work out soon what her deal was. Was she deceiving them? Was he honestly who she said she was? James often gave his trust out freely, as he had done with charlotte when he caught sight of her with the Animagi book. It hadn't even flittered through his head to work out if the stranger before him in the library was a trustworthy person. He needed something from her, and in return he would help her get what she wanted. It sounded so simple when put like that.

Then, when you stopped to really think about Charlotte, all that popped up was questions. Questions that needed answering. Obviously, the unsubtle way of simply asking, why in Godric's name no one had heard of her during their six years at Hogwarts, was a bad way to go, if last night was taken into consideration. As soon as any of them brought up her odd and sudden appearance, she shut herself off and simply bit back with snappy remarks. Even as he watched her across the room, the most miniscule looks she sent to her peers had him wondering what was going through that head of hers. She seemed to watch everyone and everything as though it was going to fall on her at any point, so she stayed clear of it, if possible.

After talking with Sirius, Remus and Pete earlier, James was feeling somewhat better about the whole situation. He at least knew that he wasn't the only one curious about Charlotte. They would try to pry information out of Charlotte, Lily and Alice before next week, and if they didn't get enough background information to settle their curiosities, a short trip to McGonagall office would clear it all up.

James jumped slightly when he felt a hand clamp down on his left shoulder, and turned suddenly towards the perpetrator. His teammate, beater on the Quidditch team, and a fair good one at that, interrupted his thoughts as he came and spoke to him for a few moments. The tall boy was clearly half drunk and was mostly just rattling on about Quidditch, all that they really had in common. Generally James would be all for a heated discussion on different teams and the methods they used, but that night, he was distracted beyond belief. It was Remus' birthday party, and that took priority over everything else, but if he could get something, anything out of Charlotte tonight, it certainly couldn't hurt.

James clapped his teammate on the back once the conversation came to a thankful end, giving him a smile and started walking towards Sirius who was in a rather interesting conversation, by the looks of it, with a peer who looked at least 2 years their junior.

He couldn't help but shake his head slowly and laugh. James Potter could in no moral way judge his friend without feeling like a bloody hypocrite and a cruddy friend. He wasn't so stupid to believe that in recent years, the notoriety of the marauders had grown. Of course, it was only speculation that they were the famed marauders, who wrecked havoc on Hogwarts ground with only the telltale symbol of a large M, with the shapes of a deer, dog, rat and wolf hidden within its colour if you looked hard enough. It was somewhat obvious it was them, and some of the time, but with no proof, they couldn't exactly get framed from something they couldn't possibly have done with such good alibis. (Courtesy of Remus' quick thinking)

Along with this, dare he call it, fame, came quite a lot of attention from their female peers. Though he thought it was enough said, clearly understood, no more words needed, for quite some time he had been labelled, a womanizer. He winced at the thought, running a hand through his hand languidly as he thought of all the times Lily had thrown it in his face as a reason to not date him. Along with his regarded 'status' she hadn't failed to proclaim the possibilities of certain diseases that apparently came along with it. He usually found Lily's attacks amusingly charming, but nothing about THAT proclamation made him smile.

His thoughts drifted for a moment towards said redhead, and once again he found himself physically shaking his head in order to rid his odd trance. He had completely forgotten his reason for even approaching Sirius. Once he his thoughts were finally back on track, he made his way to Sirius.

"Sorry to interrupt," James said with a smirk, nodding towards the black haired girl who was blushing somewhat furiously. James raised a brow towards Sirius who could only grin and waggle his eyebrows in return.

James rolled his eyes and motioned for Sirius to meet him a little to the side, giving him a clear indication that he had things to discuss that required his ears only. Reluctantly, Sirius muttered his goodbye to their junior peer in hushed whispers which had the young girl giggling.

James rolled his eyes again and sighed, loudly enough that Sirius could hear. He couldn't help but chuckle at the dark look Sirius gave him before joining at his side, no matter how false the look was.

"Mate, even I think she's too young for you," James said, throwing an arm over Sirius' shoulder as they both watched the girl gush to her friends. He felt Sirius shrug underneath his hold.

"She isn't that young, and it was just harmless flirting," he argued with a raised brow, smirking slightly as he winked at the group of girls watching the pair. "Was there a reason you spoiled my fun prongs? Or was it because you are jealous that I have someone to flirt with."

James snorted and pushed the tall beater away from him with mock offended shove, smiling as he chuckled loudly. Sirius turned back towards James and asked what he had interrupted him for again.

"I need you to go talk to Charlotte," James said, watching warily as Sirius frowned slightly. "Just for a minute or two before I go."

"Why do you 'need' me to talk to her" he asked curiously with a raised brow, crossing his arms on his chest. "Don't get me wrong, I'd happily go. Is there a particular reason I must talk to her first?"

James smirked and leaned casually against the wall as he met his friend's stormy eyes.

"Well, I have a feeling she'll find me more agreeable and will talk to me freely if you talk to her first." James watched in amusement as Sirius' face scrunched up in confusion.

"Why would she..." Sirius asked slowly. James practically could see the cogs turning in Sirius' head as he finally understood what he said. "Why you prat," Sirius said with a loud laugh, "Are you suggesting that she finds me disagreeable?"

"Not at all mate," James answered with a wink. "I just know you'll likely say something mildly inappropriate, and then when I swing by with all my gentlemanly behaviour, she'll prefer my company. Open up to me more freely."

"I'll take that as a challenge prongs," Sirius said with determination, already scanning the crowd for the messy haired blonde.

"I knew you would!" James sung happily. "Last I saw, she was making her way to the drinks table."

"Right," Sirius muttered, swinging round so he faced the general direction James led him to. Before walking away, he sent a wink to James, saluting him with his hand. James rolled his eyes and watched his best friend walk away with a fond grin on his face.

James also made his way towards the drinks table, but stayed within the mass of the crowd, hiding himself from attention from the girl who was watching Sirius with an amused expression.

(-Charlotte-)

Charlotte idly twirled the empty cup in her hand, watching as liquid slowly spilled out of the sides, down the cup onto the common room floor. She sighed and lifted her eyes off the small puddle, looking at the dancing couples, groups of friends chatting and even a few students playing drinking games.

"No don't worry about me," she muttered bitterly, looking out at the crowd, annoyance rolling of of her in waves. "I'm just dandy, standing here alone, drinking. Who needs friends."

If you couldn't tell already, she was rather bored.

Already she was wondering why she had gone to this much effort to dress up and put her foot down to Lily, all to simply stand in the corner of the room and drink. How much less effort it would have taken to just drink in the solitude of her own dorm without Lily's knowledge. The thought made her rather nauseous. Or perhaps that was the alcohol...

With a loud and aggravated sigh, she reached over for the bottle of fire whiskey, just as someone stepped out of the crowd and approached the table.

Utterly curious, Charlotte raised a brow as she watched Sirius look around the area, clearly looking for someone. His eye movements stopped when he saw her however, and she had to roll her eyes when a lazy smirk dragged across his face.

"Well hello there love," he drooled as he moved closer to Charlotte. He made a motion with his hand towards the bottle of alcohol she was holding. "Good choice of drink, my personal favourite actually."

Charlotte sighed and poured her drink, overly aware of the stormy eyes following her every movement. She tried not to fidget underneath his heavy gaze, sipping her drink and awaiting for him to do, or say something. But all he was doing was watching her with a smirk.

Charlotte frowned and lifted her head. "Haven't you heard it's rude to stare," she asked with a puff, sounding very much like a child.

"I have heard that, yes. But when a beautiful young witch passes me by, I can't help but stare," he replied effortlessly, barely fluttering his lashes.

Charlotte huffed and hid her face as best she could, attempting to cover the blush she knew was rising up her neck towards her face.

She hadn't entertained the thought that she might fancy Sirius black for as long as possible. Apparently all it took was a cheesy line and a charming smile and those curious and unwanted thoughts came to the forefront of Charlotte's mind.

Sirius black was certainly attractive, in a carefree, arrogant way. Charlotte would have to be blind to not recognise that. Though every girl in Hogwarts was aware of how charming he was, and from what Charlotte heard, quite a few had been considered 'dateable', if that's what you could call it, by the popular gryffindor. In comparison, Charlotte hardly felt she fell into the category.

Though dateable was likely a term used, it was one not practised. Charlotte had heard from many a mouth that Sirius black did not date. He had 'flings', whatever that bloody meant. Charlotte had no intention of being his next fling, nor did she want to. No, she was quite content simply being his... best mates, pretend friend?

Well that's confusing, Charlotte thought with a sigh as she watched him pour a drink of his own and watch the crowd of people with a wide smile.

So no, she didn't fancy Sirius black. She clearly thought him attractive, and somewhat enjoyed his flirting to an extent, but had no want nor need to become one of the girls who followed him around every corridor. She refused to fancy Sirius Black on principle.

Her attention was brought away from her decisive thoughts as Sirius cleared his throat slightly.

"My names Sirius, Sirius black." He said in a soft voice. Charlottes head snapped up in shock pulling her out of her silent deliberation. He was watching her with a small smile, probably mistaking her expression as shock that he was talking to her.

Charlotte blinked her eyes a few times, looking around then back towards Sirius. She almost groaned in frustration.

Had he forgotten her? The thought that he, like many of the others in her life, would forget her existence as they had, hadn't even entered her mind till this point. All along, she had been silently hoping, begging the founders, that she wasn't in a dream, that other people had taken an interest in her, and she, Godric forbid, had friends.

No matter how narcissistic or pessimistic she acted, she knew the value of friendship. Not personally no, but she had lived long enough without them to appreciate friendship from a distance.

So no matter how many times she told Potter that they weren't friends, and she denied it to lily and brushed off Sirius, there was that small part of her that held the hope that, even though the 'deal' required a sort of friendship, it would stick and maybe, just maybe, Potter, Sirius, Remus and Peter would like, enjoy and welcome her company.

But no, in a single moment it all came crumbling down around her.

With a shaky sigh, Charlotte realised that life truly would go back to 'normal' now. If Sirius had forgotten her, she guessed that Potter would have as well, therefore also Remus and Peter. Not that she was close to the latter two, but she was still disappointed at the thought.

This had been the longest that anyone had remembered her like this, and taken an interest in her, for many years, and if she wasn't so confused and disappointed, she's almost be appreciative. After all, it had taken Eloise Dedford, a bubbly hufflepuff with a keen eye for history of magic, a little under 2 hours in second year after introducing herself, to re-introduce herself halfway through their potions lesson. Charlotte never sat with her again, and Eloise never complained.

With an angered scowl, she met Sirius' amused face, watching as it slowly dropped, his eyes widening in concern. Or feigned concern an afterthought which made her snort viscously.

"What's wr-" he began, but before he could even finish what he was saying, Charlotte put the cup back on the table and turned to face him again with a unpleasant fake smile. The kind of smile that hurts your face and you simply must hold it for fear that your whole face may shatter if you don't,

"Charlotte Evans, pleased to meet you. Again." Her smile dropped and she began walking away, trying with all she had in her to not be affected by the slight twist of confusion that flickered in his stormy eyes.

Before she could even move two feet away, a hand clamped down on her shoulder. She jumped back in alarm, looking to face the startled, shocked and confused face of Sirius.

"Charlotte?" He asked hesitantly, his gaze traveling up and down her form slowly, as though he was accounting for every part of her. "Godric... You look... I didn't even recognise you! You look fantastic!"

Charlotte's scowl dropped to stare at Sirius with a slightly slackened jaw. She shut it immediately when she noticed his amused gaze drift to her wide mouth for a moment.

"So what, now you know who I am?!" She snapped in a loud voice, still barely discernible above the music. She wrenched her arm out of his grasp as she spoke the words, and was almost regretful when she realised how much she was shaking.

He laughed short and loudly, obviously not seeing how serious Charlotte was acting. Running his hands through his hair and holding them behind his head, shaking it slightly in disbelief.

"Of course I do! I just... You look so different!" He said loudly, waving a hand in front of her as though those words simply explained everything.

"You know, I truly cannot tell whether that is a compliment," She said with a lowered brow. "Or an insult at my usual appearance."

"A compliment of course," he said with a genuine smile.

Charlotte couldn't help it, she smiled as well. He hadn't forgotten her, she just looked different to how she usually did, so he couldn't recognise her. She didn't even have the emotional capacity to be affected by his praise of her appearance, she was still too hung up on the fact that he remembered who she was.

Relief swelled through her, and she felt almost embarrassed at how she had acted before. Almost embarrassed. Her pride was still thankfully unaffected.

Sirius looked around the room quickly then looked back at Charlotte with a heart clenching smirk. Or at least it would have clenched her chest, had she been sound of mind. She was still reeling in large amounts of relief which seemed to numb her senses and cool her emotions.

Wait.

No, that's the fire whiskey.

"Come find me later, we'll dance." Charlotte winced at how inappropriate he sounded. She couldn't help but wonder if he was aware of the innuendos he managed to insert into almost every sentence, or if he unintentionally was sometimes too flirty for his own good.

"Thanks," Charlotte said with a sigh, kicking the ground with her stupid heels that she just knew were tearing apart her ankles.. "But I can't and don't dance. Nor do I have any wish to." She fixed him with a hard stare, letting him know that she didn't do that sort of dancing either.

He either truly hadn't been inappropriate on purpose, or he simply breezed over her brush off, for he was talking easily in a second. Charlotte almost envied how easily conversion came to Sirius.

"Oh come off it, everyone can dance, just not as well as I can." He said with a wide smirk, puffing his chest out proudly.

Charlotte had no doubt he could dance, embarrassingly enough, she had watched him dance before. It hadn't been creepy or anything... Just a quidditch party that lily had dragged her to early the year before. The eldest Black had his fair share of partners, and from charlotte's observation, he never failed to please. Circe...

Charlotte shook her head as those thoughts veered away from her original intentions. How embarrassing.

Charlotte scoffed loudly and rolled her eyes, recovering at an impressive speed from her slightly disturbing train of thoughts . "Everyone's not nearly as modest either."

"Aww you already know me!" Sirius cooed, leaning over and pinching her left cheek with two of his fingers.

Though the action hadn't been rough or intended to do anything other than mock her, Charlotte swatted away his hand, sending him a fiery stare as she rubbed away the blush on her cheeks as though she was rubbing away his fingerprints. He laughed as though he knew the real reason why she was rubbing her cheeks, though his laugh always seemed to sound like that. Like he knew something she didn't.

"Aww it's been fifteen minutes and I'm already bored!" She muttered in the same singsong voice he had expressed, though her cynicism was far more obvious.

"How could you possibly be bored in my presence." He asked with mock offence, crossing his arms on his chest. Charlotte was surprised that he had heard her, but didn't miss a beat in rolling her eyes as she met his amused stare with her indignant one.

"Well let's see, I've already drank enough to be drunk, though admittedly I believe I've gotten used to this amount again." He raised a curious brow in question, but she ignored it, continuing on with her rant. "I have only spoken to one person so far and he just happens to be an obnoxious jer-"

"OI! Who are you calling obnoxious!" He called out, barking out a short laugh.

Just as she was about to answer, another voice halted her own.

"Couldn't be Sirius here, he's just bursting with good qualities," the voice said, as the person came closer from the crowd.

"Damn straight!" Sirius called, swinging an arm and pulling the person close so they stood in an odd looking triangle.

Charlotte's eyes flittered to the side of Sirius, towards the new member of their conversation, noticed the receiver and looked back towards Sirius. Her breath hitched when she finally managed to process what she has just seen, and her eyes snapped to the left, locking onto James Potter who was sporting an amused smirk, one which practically forced out the dimples in his cheeks.

Honestly, he didn't look all that different than when he was in his school robes or when she had seen him in normal clothing at the three broomsticks. Similarly to Sirius he wore dark denim jeans that were fitted, simple black shoes and a tight button up shirt that somehow managed to match the blue in James' hazel eyes perfectly. If anything it only made his eyes seem bluer. His hair was combed and possibly waxed to the side, sitting in soft waves, a few strands already managing to escape the style and dangle teasingly I front of his eyes, which he had to push or blow away every few seconds.

Charlotte hadn't realised she was staring with a deep frown on her face and her cup gripped tightly in her hands until a hand was waved in front of her eyes, and she was brought back into consciousness.

"Sorry.. What. .." Charlotte stuttered with a soft blush on her cheeks she only hoped was hidden by the lightly lit room. Considering he was looking rather smug, she doubted it had been.

"I was just saying how incredibly lovely you look Charlotte," James complimented with a genuine smile.

Charlotte frowned, looking away towards the crowd of students to her right. An uncomfortable feeling rose in her stomach, and she could feel the colour run up her neck towards her cheeks, but she wished more than anything it wasn't visible.

Charlotte knew she wasn't ugly, but she was also constantly aware that she wasn't beautiful. There was nothing special about her navy eyes or her knotty hair, nothing perfect about her lips or how she walked. No, it was obviously apparent that Lily had taken the physical side in their 'twinship', as well as the brains.

So what exactly had she left Charlotte? The good fortune of being second best and unfortunately having the tendency to see everything as a competition. Lily can be so thoughtful.

Charlotte knew that with her hair somewhat in a respectable fashion, makeup that made her face seem more expressive and a dress that slimmed her figure, she was on the verge of being pretty. That didn't mean she was suddenly ready to hear compliments about it. In fact, in a way, she would rather no one said anything about her improved appearance, that way she wouldn't feel so dull before all the makeup.

She honestly couldn't tell whether or not it was a compliment, knowing very well that she looks nothing like this without all the glamour, and would never receive such admiration.

That's why she was hesitant to answer James' compliment, because she had no bloody idea what to say.

Obviously she couldn't say, 'no I'm not,' because it would just seem like she's fishing for more compliments and Circe only knew that was exactly what she didn't want.

"Thank you James, you look rather nice yourself," Charlotte managed eventually. His smirk grew to a wide smile, one that revealed two dimples in the sides of his cheeks, and she groaned, realising a second too late that she had made an error attempting to cover up her embarrassment.

"James huh?" He asked coily. "Is there a particular reason you decided to bump me up to first name citizenship? Or was it simply my charm and good looks?"

He flicked back his curly hair with a wides smirk, giving off an exhausting aura of smug retribution.

She scoffed loudly, avoiding his smile and Sirius' own curious glance. Well she couldn't exactly tell him, 'Yes that's exactly why', now could she? For one, it would become blatantly clear that she thought him attractive, no matter how remotely small, and secondly well, she was stubborn.

She hasn't exactly called him James because she thought him attractive, merely she was distracted by his attractiveness and forgot the name that had been instilled into her by Lily for years. She hadn't consciously decided his name was Potter, it was what Lily called him, so she in turn, did as well.

"Perhaps, James, I've decided you're not as annoying as I originally thought, your remotely less." She answered with a huff, crossing her arms on her chest and desperately trying to ignore how Potters smile dropped.

"I would take that as a compliment," he said slowly watching her intently. "But I have a feeling it's not one..."

Damn straight it's not a compliment you bloody moron, she thought with a growl. Sirius was clearly thinking something similar, as he snickered quietly to himself, shrugging when Potter sent him a scathing look.

Thankfully an angel dressed in a checked shirt piped in before Charlotte could mutter those words.  
"I heard what she said," Remus said with a laugh, leaning over their shoulders to smile at Charlotte warmly. "And it's not."

She decided to adjust her answer, and simply said, "you can take it however you want, Potter." He scoffed, but Charlotte ignored him in favour of the sandy haired boy before her. "Hello Remus," She spoke in a breathe of almost relief, at his far more easy and calming nature.

"Bloody hell, I'm back to Potter again," he muttered bitterly, making Charlotte smirk. He actually seemed genuinely annoyed that she didn't call him James. Now she'd have to call him Potter just for the sake of it.

Charlotte missed the pointed look Potter sent to Remus and Sirius. She did manage to, however, see the looks of confusion they openly displayed to Potter. Honestly it was rather amusing, Potter was gesturing to his side, mouthing words as the other two boys looked at each other then back at Potter in confusion.

Potter let out a sigh of exasperation, running a hand through his hair. Charlotte felt a tap on her right shoulder and she turned to face whoever was beckoning her, but all she faced was an open space.

When she turned back around, realisation was evident on both Remus and Sirius' faces. She quirkier a curious brow but said nothing.

"Listen, Sirius and I have to set up some stuff, we'll see you later Charlotte, James," Remus said with a smile. Both Charlotte and Potter said their farewells to Remus as he disappeared into the growing crowd.

Charlotte was almost startled by the amount of people in the room now. Half of Hogwarts students had seemed to congregate in the one room. Were all these people really friends with Remus? How was it that this bloke somehow had over 100 friends yet she couldn't find a single one?

Charlotte was still staring into the crowd with a frown when something, or rather someone blocked her vision. She raised a brow towards Sirius who was smirking gleefully. Charlotte could tell why he was so popular with the girls at Hogwarts, that smirk was lethal.

"Save me a dance love," he said in a hushed whisper, leaning forward slightly towards her ear. Charlotte took a step back and cleared her throat awkwardly. She could see that Potter was watching the scene with what seemed like amusement and... Well it seemed like worry, which didn't at all make sense. No, she looked again and he was just amused. Perhaps the firewhiskey had hit her harder than she thought.

Sirius was still before her, apparently waiting for an answer to his statement, even though he clearly hadn't asked anything.

Charlotte simply couldn't seem to understand what Sirius black wanted from her, he flirted relentlessly, with many girls, so she knew not to take that personally, but there were other times when they were talking that she couldn't help but... No. Charlotte stopped the thought, any and all thoughts that led down that pathway she had so clearly chosen to demolish. Sirius black was a friend, or a friend of a friend. An acquaintance really. One she had unfortunately told a lot about herself to...

"Don't hold your breath 'paddy'," she muttered stepping a little closer to Potter so she wasn't under Sirius' heavy gaze.

She watched in amusement as he rose a comical brow towards Potter at hearing his nickname Charlotte hadn't failed to miss the previous night. Even Potter seemed to be surprised she had remembered it, she had been fairly drunk.

Sirius chuckled as he swung around and , like Remus, disappeared into the crowd. Charlotte breathed out a sigh of relief once he was gone, ignoring the muffled laugh of Potter who seemed to think her relief was hilarious for some reason.

Once Sirius was gone, Charlotte noticed Potter a little better. He looked... Agitated. Nervous almost. She obviously hadn't known him closely for very long, but it was certainly a foreign emotion he hadn't freely shown in front of her before. His hand couldn't seem to stop reaching to his hair, running it through his dark locks over and over, just for the thick waves to fall back in front of his face. He was tapping the floor with the foot, clearly not in time with the the music, and his eyes were frantic around the room.

It was almost comical, if he didn't look so bloody worried, Charlotte likely would have laughed.

"Is Lily coming?" He asked eventually, more of an explosive question that suddenly escaped his mouth and made Charlotte jump back in surprise. Charlotte frowned, not understanding the unnecessary cause of his worry, she opened her mouth to answer, but he cut her off before she could get a word out. She didn't really see the point of him asking her questions if he wasn't going to wait for the answer, but let him babble on anyway. "Do you think what I'm wearing is okay? I mean Sirius said it looked good, and everyone always says Sirius dresses really well so I was hoping I could trust his judgement."

Charlotte rose a brow, wondering why on earth Potter was asking for fashion advice, from her. Hadn't he seen what she was wearing ? A seriously outdated black lace wedding dress of all things. Half the time Charlotte simply wore whatever was warm and comfortable under her robes, so he had really come to the wrong person to ask for advice.

Still, he waited impatiently for her answer. She frowned deeply when he kept sending a hand through his hair again.

"James, take a deep breath," Charlotte said in her most soothing voice she could attempt. She had actually hoped that using his first name would somehow calm him, or distract him, no matter how remotely or how short a time it did so, yet he hadn't even seemed to realise she had used it, instead he was watching her intently, caught on her every word. He made an indication towards his clothes, waving a hand in the general direction of his body, and Charlotte's eyes followed it, before raising a brow to Potter. He actually wanted her to answer? "Yes Lily is coming tonight, and you look... fine."

"Fine...?" He said in exasperation, eyes wide as he looked down at his clothes. "It's the shirt isn't it? Damnit I knew I shouldn't have worn this one! Charlotte I'm really nervous. I have barely been around her since we talked on Tuesday and I really want her to just appreciate me and I was hoping looking better would do that but now I can't even get that right. Dammit, where is the firewhiskey!"

Charlotte grabbed onto the arm that had magically managed to clasp onto a bottle of firewhiskey faster than she thought possible. With those kind of relieves, she was surprised he wasn't a seeker on the Gryffindor team instead of chaser, she hadn't even seen his hand reach out before he had the bottle.

He let out a sigh, starting his nervous cycle again. Charlotte could only watch him bite his lip, run a hand through his hair and tap his foot so many times before she snapped.

"Potter!" She yelled above the music, grabbing onto his arm so he would focus on her, but for a moment.

"What?" He asked with a frown, as though oblivious to how agitated he was, which was ridiculous.

Charlotte bit her lip, looking around the room before she sighed. Closing her eyes she deliberated what exactly she should tell him. She'd spent the last 6 years with only Lily as her social anchor, and considering they fought half the time, that didn't give off a whole lot of confidence.

Charlotte didn't know why he was so nervous. He looked... Fine? He looked good. Better than good. All she could really think to tell him was that he looked attractive, but knew his ego didn't really need that unnecessary boost from her. In fact, she didn't even know why he was so worried about his looks in hoping to impress Lily. From Charlotte's knowledge, he was far better looking than the other boys she had fancied. One really had to wonder about Lily's taste when it came to boys sometimes.

"You look amazing okay?" Charlotte said with a sigh, a hand of her own running through her hair. Or at least, that's what she attempted to do. The hand got caught in a knot halfway down and she ended up pulling out a chunk of unruly blonde hair. Potter was watching her with an unconvinced brow risen, as though he couldn't believe her. Charlotte rolled her eyes and crossed her arms on her chest, huffing out a breath.

"Very handsome, and the shirt looks fantastic on you, accentuates all your..." Charlotte struggled for the right word as her eyes travelled across his upper half. Unfortunately the forbidden image of that morning popped into her mind. Suddenly she was seeing what was underneath the shirt. Biceps? Abs? Muscles? Crystal blue colour in your eyes? Charlotte settled for the far more mature and disconnected answer of: "Good features. I'm sure Lily will think you look dashing."

Charlotte looked out towards the crowd, letting out a breath of agitation at the blush she just knew was burning through her skin. His face had remained passive the entire time, and she was almost worried to see his reaction now.

Charlotte watched as he sagged in relief, leaning against the wall, watching her as though testing her honesty. Eventually he smirked slightly, tilting his head to the side reminding Charlotte, as he had the first time she met him, of a puppy dog..

"Why thank you Lottie, you're not falling for me are you? I won't hold it against you, most women who have seen me without a shirt have.'' He waggled his eyebrows and Charlotte for a moment, saw nothing but red. The asshole hadn't really been upset at all, had he? He just wanted an ego boost.

How in the hell of Merlin's beard did he expect her to trust him, when he played stupid tricks like this on her, all in the hopes of fueling his arrogance. She was standing before him now, and she couldn't even tell whether he had been seriously worried at all. All she felt was foolish and dumb-witted for believing that James bloody Potter needed reassurance that his appearance was anything different to what it usually was.

He obviously hadn't noticed her change in demeanor, but in her opinion, he was an oblivious prat. Her teeth were gritted together so tightly that she feared her teeth would suddenly break and come tumbling out of her mouth. All sorts of unsavoury profanities, that would have Lily blanching, swam through her mind as she stared down the pretentious gryffindor.

"Potter if I fell," Charlotte snapped, pointing a finger at his face, half wishing it was her wand instead. "it would be because I was tripping over your large ego. Don't flatter yourself, particularly when you've done nothing worthy to earn it."

That truly was the kindest thing she could think to say to him in the moment. All things considered, she was being fairly easy on him. Her hand had lowered and was now limp at her side. Confused thoughts flittered through her as she attempted to find out why exactly she chose to come.

"Shikes Charlotte, if I didn't know any better, I would have to guess you are trying to hurt my feelings," Potter said, sending her a wolfish wink that put Charlotte's stomach in an uncomfortable position.

"Was I being too subtle?" She snapped, just as angry at him for tricking her as she was for he reaction she seemed to have when he smiled. It really wasn't fair. With a sigh she scrunched up her plastic cup and threw it to the side, landing blindly somewhere on the table. For the third time that afternoon, she turned to storm away from someone.

And for the second time, someone stopped her.

"Charlotte I was joking !" Potter said laughing. His smile turned genuine instead of mocking as he released his hold on her arm. "Thank you, really."

Perhaps it was the fight with Lily or maybe Charlotte was still sick from her odd illness that afternoon. It was just as possible that Charlotte was just plain sick of not being able to trust people and finding herself constantly in the position where she had to forgive. For whatever reason, Charlotte was certainly not in the forgiving mood, and no matter how she felt when he smiled at her or the amount of charm and humour he used in his apology, she had 0 intention of dealing with the prat for a moment longer.

She'd already been let down by him that morning when he blatantly told her that he'd only helped her for Lily's sake, and she truly didn't care to passover this as well. During her walk to the infirmary to pick up a pepperup potion, she'd made the logical decision to brush off his earlier comment, deciding he had every right to only be friends with her for the good image alone. It didn't mean it hurt any less, but it had at least allowed her to speak with him without worrying about his intentions.

She'd apparently been wrong.

She sent a slightly shaky hand through her hair, not caring when she pulled out a knot or two, it was inevitable after all. Charlotte watched Potter in her peripheral vision and couldn't help feeling even more angry when he continued to smile at her in some sort of knowing way.

"Want to know why Lily won't go out with you genius? Because your an arrogant bastard who thinks the whole bloody world should revolve around you!" Charlotte finally exploded, pivoting so she faced him again. Though the words came out in a rush, they slowly lowered, coming out in a hushed snarl. Her voice had been so low and vicious that even Potter seemed to be surprised at her reaction, his eyes widening mm by mm with every word. "You're welcome."

Charlotte turned away from Potter, looking at the drinks table. Comically, she grabbed the firewhiskey bottle he had gone to take only minutes ago, thinking of the slight retribution. Though he hadn't been serious when he had gone to take the alcohol, she was deadly so. And he knew it.

She chanced a glance at him before she left and saw exactly what she expected and didn't need to see in that moment. Judgement, disapproval and disappointment. Perhaps he was perfect for Lily she thought with a vicious laugh.

"I-" he began with a deep frown and his brows lowered deeply on his face. Before he could utter a single protest against the bottle in her hand, she set upon him the most dark and unforgiving scowl she could force on her face.

"Not a word," She grounded out slowly, withholding the need to slap that stupid look straight off his face.

Before Charlotte turned to leave, she saw the faintest look of sadness pass over his face. For a moment, she almost stopped in her tracks and walked back to him. Before she could, he walked off. She stood stock still watching his form disappear to her right, an image she truly she shouldn't be disappointed at seeing. Charlotte hadn't been expecting him to go after her or anything, that would be stupid.

Charlotte sighed dejectedly, pushing away a few of her house members who bumped into her. They gave her but a glance before going back to whatever it was they were discussing before she had barged into them.

With a bottle in her right hand, she made her way to the common room doorway, slipping in and out of groups of people, friends laughing and students dancing to the loud rhythm of 'Saturday night Fever'.

A hand caught her arm as she had almost reached the doorway, and she swung around, only to find Lily standing impatiently to her right, frowning deeply. Charlotte tilted her head to the side slightly and she saw Lily's flock of friends not far behind her, watching them curiously. Only Alice Lightwood had some recognition of what was about to happen, and was instead watching with trepidation.

With a sigh, Charlotte could practically feel the small buzz from her few drinks earlier drain out of her system.

"Charlotte," Lily acknowledged, nodding her head slightly. Charlotte struggled not to roll her eyes at her sister's boring niceties. Had they been in their room, Lily wouldn't have withheld from blasting her for their previous discussion, a main cause for Charlotte leaving their dorm as soon as possible. Though it was somewhat aggravating the way Lily held onto this persona around their peers, she was also somewhat thankful that she wouldn't have to hear an earful, at least not that night.

"What is it Lily?" Charlotte asked with a sigh, running her free hand through her hair, tugging loosely at the knots. "I was just leaving."

Lily nodded, albeit only a small inclination of her head. Charlotte nodded as well and turned away, full intent on reaching the painting and getting out of the room which had far too many people in it.

"Is that...?" Charlotte stilled at Lily's tone, and felt the bottle give way under her hand as her sister snatched it from her grasp, staring at the label incredulously. "Seriously Charlotte? What has it been, 30? No, sorry, 40 minutes. You're already drinking, and funnily enough, I'm not that surprised."

Charlotte scowled at Lily's mocking tone, grabbing the bottle back out of Lily's hand, inwardly surprised that she felt no resistance. Charlotte didn't even have it in her to be ashamed that Lily was right. All she could see was red, and she knew for a fact that her fury was misdirected completely at her sister.

"Sod off Lily," Charlotte growled, her eye twitching when Lily scoffed loudly. To the side, she could see Alice take a few tentative steps forward, probably already knowing from previous experience that Lily's pompous know it all tone had a way of making something snap in Charlotte.

Alice had, unfortunately, been there when Lily first found out about Charlotte's alcohol…problem. Lily displayed quite a bit of disgust, shame and pity for Charlotte, and of course that hadn't gone well for the fairer haired Evans. Already in a state of anger and shame from her parents, Charlotte had exploded at Lily, her shouts turning nonsensical and a wand suddenly rose in the air. The entire time Lily was calm, and had even raised her perfect eyebrow in mock surprise.

Everyone knew that Lily was better at Charlotte in duelling, amongst other things. Everyone in the room had practically sighed in unison when Charlotte pulled out her wand. In the end it was Richard, their father, who managed to subdue Charlotte. And by subdue, he had threatened to pull Charlotte out of Hogwarts and snap her wand. Charlotte certainly wasn't feeling the love of her family that day.

The entire time, Alice had stood to the side, watching with wide eyes. She was by no means Charlotte's friend, but even she must have seen the injustice in a threat like that. To snap a witch or wizard's wand was an irrevocable sentence. Wands can be bought again, but it won't be the same, ever. The allegiance between the wand and wizard won't be as strong, and the magic won't be as personal. Considering Charlotte's standard of physical magic was already so embarrassingly low, she wouldn't dare even think about getting a new wand which would no doubt barely work for her. Her own wand was already so darn temperamental, she couldn't think of what another one would be like.

Alice had undoubtedly, been Lily's closest friend since the beginning of school. Severus obviously began to slip away the closer Lily got to others, and then when their friendship became almost a secret, it fell apart all too quickly. Alice, However, was always there. For whatever reason, unlike everyone else, Alice remembered who she was, she remembered what she did and said. She knew all about Charlotte and for some reason, it wasn't overly comforting.

Charlotte couldn't manage to work out how Alice, Lily's friend, could remember her, yet the people she had attempted to be friends with for all of six years couldn't. She didn't like to linger on the thoughts longer than necessary, it made her frustrated and depressed.

Charlotte sent a dark look to Alice as she stepped closer; absently thinking that Alice had never been anything but pleasant to her. Right now, however, she was Lily's best friend, and that was enough for the moment. Alice seemed to thankfully understand what Charlotte meant with her dark look, as she paused in her steps, biting her lips as she looked at Lily. Lily sighed, shaking her head as she looked between her best friend and sister.

"Charlotte please don't, others are around," She said, indicating around the room incredulously with a brow raised. "I don't want you making a scene…especially not while you're drunk."

Whether it was the alcohol, or simply how truly exhausted Charlotte was feeling, an almost maniacal laugh escaped her throat in a breath. She flung her arms out, almost throwing the bottle in the process.

"Can't have perfect Lily talking to her derailed twin huh?" She was getting attention now, and a few groups of students had stopped what they were doing, watching the two girls with wide eyes. "Wouldn't that be horrid? If people knew you were related… to the likes of me."

Charlotte's eyes roamed around the area, hearing the confused conversations around her. She may have been a bit out of it, but she was still aware enough of what was going on around her. She could hear their questions, and she wasn't at all surprised that they wanted to know who the 'crazy blonde' was. If her head was on straight, she might have had the pride to realise that she was indeed making a scene.

She shrugged helplessly, knowing that they likely wouldn't remember who she was anyway. There was a certain freedom in that realisation.

"Or I dunno…." Charlotte said lowly, an almost growl as she stepped closer to Lily. "If they knew of me at all." Charlotte's point was clear. She blamed her sister for everyone not knowing who she was, Lily however, clearly didn't agree.

"You're being immature," Lily said with an exasperated sigh, gripping onto the bridge of her nose.

"Your being a git," Charlotte bit back, scowling when Lily raised a brow, if proving her point. So maybe that had been a little childish, so what! "Move."

Lily was, for all intensive purposes, standing in her way. Like an immovable brick wall. Both metaphorically and physically. Of course, she was standing in the way towards the common room painting. But Charlotte knew that for a very long time, she had been in the way of a lot more than just achieving some privacy. If only it was as easy as asking her to move for that as well.

"I told you not to come!" Lily snapped, stepping forward. Charlotte raised her brows, finally seeing some of the real Lily poking through her annoying façade. A slow smirk grew on Lily's face as she quietly asked, "What do you think mum and dad would say if they saw you like this, Again."

Empty threat or not, a shudder of fear struggled not to grip onto Charlotte. She may not fit very well into any groups in Hogwarts, but would fit in even less in the muggle world. It wasn't even the fact that she couldn't perform magic in front of the muggles, rather the idea that she would be completely alone. A rather comical thought, considering how alone she felt amongst all these witches and wizards her age.

"And I told you, to shove it up your ass!" Charlotte snapped back, eyes wide. She didn't need a mirror to know that the hair which she had prided in looking so presentable earlier likely resembled something you'd find in the forbidden forest. Her hair tended to get worse when she was stressed or annoyed or angry. Perhaps it was because Charlotte constantly attacked it with her hands without even subconsciously knowing. Lily rolled her eyes again and Charlotte resisted the need to throttle her sister.

"I don't care if you tell dad I'm drinking again, I don't care if I get pulled out of bloody Hogwarts!" An obvious, yet somewhat startling lie from the looks of Lily. "As long as it gets me the hell away from you, they could ship me off to Godric knows where and I'd be happy!" Another lie, but this one was obviously less predictable as Lily's brows just furrowed and she frowned deeply, opening up her mouth, likely to snap a quick retort.

Charlotte beat it to her however, throwing her hands in the air, bottle and all, in defeat. Somehow that bottle managed to cling to her hand like it was glued, she wasn't even aware she was grasping onto it like a lifeline.

"Sod all of this, I'm done." Lily raised a questioning brow as though asking 'done with what exactly?' Charlotte sent her a glare suggesting she knew exactly what she was done with.

Charlotte wasn't even sure what she was done with, mostly she wanted the conversation and the experience in general to be over.

Why had she said she would come to this blasted party again? Oh yes… it had something to do with the two most talked about boys in the entire school, not including the Prewett twins who had sadly, albeit thankfully, finished school last year. One group of pranksters for more than enough for the school apparently.

Charlotte would remember this experience for future reference, promising that she would have a stern and possibly abusive word with the two individuals who had asked her to come tonight.

Lily was, apparently, not done, as she grabbed onto Charlotte's arm before she could storm out of the room. One glance her way, and Charlotte knew the façade was back in place.

"Charlotte, I'm only trying to help you!" she said pleadingly, a silent warning gathering behind her eyes.  
She may have looked like a caring sister, or friend, considering no one knew that Charlotte was her sister, but Charlotte could tell that a big part of Lily not wanting Charlotte to storm out into the hallway was her fear that she would be found out, past curfew, with a particular banned substance in her hands. No doubt a teacher would assume where it came from, even if they didn't have the foggiest idea who she was, and Lily herself would be in big trouble as she was a prefect and all. Not even mentioning how much trouble Remus would be in considering it's his party and he was the other sixth year prefect. Lily had an amazing ability to make a self serving act seem so kind and selfless.

It truly was a gift.

Charlotte let out a humourless laugh, one filled with so much cynicism that it could bring a chill to your spine. Lily let go of her arm looking at her sister with a slightly worrying look that was, surprisingly, not fake at all.

"No."

"No?" Lily repeated Charlotte's words a little louder and a greater amount of confusion mixed between each syllable.

"No you're not trying to help me; you're trying to fix me! .BROKEN!" By that point, Charlotte was yelling out each syllable. The room had gone quiet as many eyes faced Charlotte and Lily, but Charlotte could barely see any of them. All she saw was her privileged twin who seemed to know everything and didn't understand anything. She recognised faces coming towards them from within the crowd, but blocked those out as well as she did everyone and everything else.

"I don't need, nor could I ever want, your help," Charlotte spat at her sister, before walking past and around her. The students fell away from her steps like water dripping out of a cup, and she had a feeling that every eye was currently on her as she stalked out of the room, a firewhiskey bottle in hand and a whole lot of pent up anger she had yet to release. It was lucky all these people moved out of her way, or she feared that they may take the receiving end of that leftover anger.

With her remaining pride all but diminished, she made her way to the painting, opened it and walked out quietly so as to not wake up any of the paintings. It wasn't that far past curfew, but she wouldn't risk it. She'd rather have the fury of her sister than the entire Gryffindor house if they got busted with alcohol in the common room.

She quietly walked brought the halls, peering into classrooms and storerooms, simply looking for somewhere to sit and think about absolutely nothing for while. Whilst doing so, an odd feeling came over her, one similar to what she felt earlier in the day.

With her head light, and her feet heavy, she ended up in the storeroom not far from Gryffindor tower. Once she landed on the floor like a puddle, the feeling mostly went away and she was instead sitting alone in her own embarrassment.

With a sigh, she uncorked the whiskey and brought it to her lips.

* * *

 **Re-Beta'd October 31st because for some reason i posted the crappy unedited version -_-**

 **Hello everybody!**

 **Thank You for bearing with me & my odd updating times, I understand it can be sort of annoying.**

 **I'm sorry, but I finally got this chapter out and I have to tell you all, I had the strongest rum and Coke I've had in a long time. This was hard work and I won't deny it isn't my best writing. I rushed it, I'll admit. But it's out, and I can always edit it later.**

 **~moving on~**

 **Well I got an amazing amount of reviews for the romance for Charlotte, and I'm still not 100% certain. It was good to hear your thoughts though.**

 **As much as I LOVE Sirius, I don't think Charlotte and him would be a good pair. If anything I think thy would be too good a pair and this IS a James/oc. Though jealousy may be a good thing for the story, I don't want to deviate from the plot by creating unnecessary drama.**

 **~resisting insane urge to write a Siri/OC~**

 **Something someone reviewed about bothered me, so I felt like I had to address it to everyone and not just that one reviewer.**

 **They said that the whole 'no one has seen or heard of Charlotte for 6 years' is a mistake...**

 **THE MAIN PLOT OF THE STORY IS THE MYSTERY OF HER WEIRD APPEARANCE OMG HOW DO YOU NOT KNOW THAT**

 **Sorry, sorry…**

 **I'm worried now that I didn't make it clear... Of course it's bloody weird and flipping impossible for someone to just 'appear' and for no one to know her! THAT IS THE POINT.**

 **The main plot is her and James' deal, the back plot is their romance and then the mystery is her appearance and weirdness around the school. URGH. Sorry but I didn't realise I would have to explain that...**

 **I'm sorry if it wasn't obvious from my writing, hopefully this cleared it up for people.**

 **i'm also aware i wrote Alice Longbottom. I WILL go back and change it….. when i can be bothered XD dont worry i've got a beta on it ;)**

 **Now that that stressful topic is done, I can finally talk about this chapter, yay -_-**

 **So we see a little more interaction with James and Charlotte, which is always good. Honestly I feel like this party is just a filler for the coming chapters because it's so pointless aha XD**

 **Next chapter is the end of the party & Will only be fairly short, then... WE CAN FINALLY MOVE THIS STORY ALONG. THANK MERLIN!**

 **There will be ALOT less description of everything that is happening as it'll be more fast paced instead of a 5,000 word chapter of a 15 minute conversation o_O**

 **Seriously this chapter is only... 1-3 hours and it's almost 15,000 words long. Crazy!**

 **Thank you to all the lovely reviewers and EVERYONE WHO FOLLOWED/FAVOURITED.**

 **Once again, sorry for the crappy update times, as I said I lost this chapter in late August, and it was over 11,000 words that I had to re-write. That's like... 21 pages in google docs. No easy task guys.**

 **Anyway, love you all!**

 **Xxx**


	13. Chapter 13

_**Some legends are told**_  
 _ **Some turn to dust or to gold**_  
 _ **But you will remember me**_  
 _ **Remember me for centuries**_

 **Chapter Thirteen.**

* * *

 **(-Charlotte-)**

Mortification, pure and utterly tragic embarrassment, which she had only ever had the displeasure of experiencing a few miserable times in her life. It was hitting her every second she stayed hidden in that small broom cupboard, increasing in intensity as she replayed the night's events in her mind over and over until she could almost recite every word she spat and yelled. She couldn't simply roll of this embarrassing behaviour by saying she was tired, or already in a bad mood from Lily, because she had brushed of that heated conversation as soon as she entered the crowded common room and was assaulted with the eyes of everyone in the room.

As she gripped the bottle between both hands, not yet taking more than a sip since she entered the closet, she tried to discover when she had suddenly become such a whiny prat. She could pass off such ridiculous arguments as being justified if she were 12 or 13, but Charlotte was 17 years old, a legal adult witch in the wizarding world. She'd accepted her inability at social conventions long ago and the likelihood that Lily would be her only friend till school finished. The truth hurt as much as it would to anyone else, but she generally didn't act out on it. She didn't usually blame everything that went wrong on Lily, and generally when they had a toss, she wouldn't explode in front of all of all their peers.

To be truthful, she had always complained and whined and was envious, she was just more prone to make these complaints to herself. Afternoons where she paced the length of their shared room or dorm, muttering and throwing things around. Charlotte wasn't a violent person, but she would quite happily beat her frustrations into her pillow.

Charlotte was fairly certain that after that ridiculous display of petulance her, admittedly hopeful, friendship with Sirius and Potter would fade into nonexistence the same way all her other attempts did. She'd give it a few days; the first or second, they would recognise her, but couldn't tell why. They would give her confused glances, and maybe ever approach her, questioning if they had met. By the third day, they wouldn't even look at her as she passed. The idea of her and Potter's 'deal' would become a scratchy memory, and he would find another way to win over Lily. Sirius would go back to being perverse elsewhere and that small spot at Gryffindor table which was reserved for her lonesome would be, once again, filled. Her hopes of being an Animagus would become as pointless as attempting to reconcile with either Sirius or Potter. Her life would go back to revolving around bettering her marks in the hopes of eventually coming out on top of at least one class, after that? No bloody idea.

 _Here's to making friends_ , she thought with a weary sigh before bringing the bottle back to her lips. She winced as it went down, but her mind lay elsewhere, and it was an almost instinctive reaction.

What likely pained her most of all, was how right Lily was. Charlotte did drink too much, as evident by how out of control her emotions got tonight; she was also admittedly very immature at the most inappropriate of times (though she didn't really give a toss about that particular characteristic). Either Charlotte or Lily had to be the less serious one, and it was as plain as day that it wasn't going to be Lily.

Charlotte thumped her head against the wood of the broom cupboard, groaning as she did. When had everything become so sodding unbearable? The better question was, when had her life improved to the point where she would miss the things she didn't even have before. Her hands fell into her hair and slowly dragged over her face, taking the time to rub her eyes in exhaustion, likely wiping all the rubbish makeup so she looked as ghastly as a dementor.

Her movements were frozen still when she heard quiet footsteps behind the door. _Don't be filch, don't be filch,_ she chanted slowly in her mind, worrying her lip unconsciously between her teeth. Had she been standing, she'd likely be kicking her shoe on the floor as well; thankfully she was seated, as the actions likely would have just brought the student, teacher or caretaker right towards her. All sounds disappeared and Charlotte sighed in relief, slumping her head back against the wood, perhaps a little too hard.

Her eyes flew to the door, but no more steps could be heard. Her heart flew out of her chest when there was a rustle at the doors handle only a moment after. Her hands quickly fumbled through her skirt, looking for the small pocket she had hid her wand in, but it was too late. The door was already opening and a tall form moved in, covering the small closet with shadows of all sorts of shapes.

 _Dear Godric let it not be a teacher_ she thought miserably in her mind.

Said individual, lifted their wand, whispering Lumos in the quiet of night. Charlotte groaned more deeply now as she looked into the concerned eyes of the Gryffindor captain. _Godric why can't it be a teacher she amended,_ glaring at the door.

Charlotte watched with something akin to aggravation, worry and relief as Potter moved silently into the room, closing the door behind him. He flicked on the light switch, tucking his wand away, not making any sign of apology when Charlotte had to shield her eyes from the sudden change of light. He then proceeded to sit, somewhat opposite her with his long legs outstretched on Charlotte's left, warily watching her the entire time in his peripheral vision.

Not for the first time, Charlotte wondered what he was thinking when he looked at her. He seemed inscrutable, unfeeling of anything. Again, not for the first time, she wondered why she cared. When had she ever cared? When did she ever care what others thought? She'd gotten over caring about her peer's opinions shortly after they refused the ability to acknowledge her existence. When had she consciously decided that the opinion of James Potter mattered to her? Was it when she began thinking of him as something more than a stranger, though less than a friend? Or possibly the acceptance that he could very well be her future… boyfriend-in-law… if that was even the correct term for it.

"Evening," Potter said with a small smile, brushing his hair away from his face as he settled more comfortably against the shelf containing all sorts of cleaning agents. She couldn't guess how, but he seemed to be goading and encouraging her to not ignore him. His eyes were practically begging her to say something. In fact they even seemed to apologise if that were at all possible.

Charlotte turned her eyes away from him, as she tucked the bottle back onto the shelf she had specifically chosen to hold her drink. She didn't meet his eyes afterwards, partly in fear that she would see that same disappointment she'd been greeted with earlier. Just the thought of him looking at her like that again, sent her stomach tumbling out of her body. "That it is potter, that it is," Charlotte said with a sigh, letting her head fall back onto the shelf it had been resting on only moments ago.

It was silent for a fair few minutes, and Charlotte could feel Potter's eyes on her. It bothered her a whole bloody lot more than the earlier experience of the entire common room staring at her after her peculiarly public entrance. She could at least revel in the realisation that he wasn't completely repelled by her attitude earlier, which she had completely expected.

"Had a spat with Lils?" The funny this was, he asked it like he didn't know. But she had seen him during the argument and knew without a doubt that he had heard, seen and likely enjoyed her overly public confrontation with her twin. Though his expression now, told a complete different story. His wired glasses were sitting comfortably on his nose, and his hazel eyes followed her with so much attention that it made her shift positions on the ground uncomfortably. His dimples weren't visible, and his mouth was set in a hard line, almost mirroring his furrowed brows. He seemed concerned. For her or Lily though?

"You know, I chose this particularly claustrophobic space with the intention to attempt to forget that earlier… incident," she said pointedly, giving him a look, a look that was sort of asking him to use his head a little better. "You bringing this up isn't a great escape, in fact it's bringing me right back to the problem that brought me here in the first place."

He seemed to be mulling over her words, watching her with that same intense expression. When it finally broke, his mouth morphed into a small smile, though Charlotte still stared at him with her pointed look. He playfully nudged her knee with his own, smiling as she stared at his leg as though she was instead glaring at a venomous snake. "Come on Charlotte, you've got to talk to someone."

Charlotte didn't want to talk to anyone, truly she just wanted to remain in the small closet that was somehow sheltering the two and wallow in her self-pity and embarrassment. She met his gaze, wandering curiously why he was even here. After all, she had yelled at him for simply joking around as he would with any other person. She had yelled at his darling Lily, which seemed an even more adverse reason to be confused with his sudden care.

Amazingly, it only just dawned on Charlotte how socially deficient she was. Of course, she knew that she was lacking in most of the skills others her age possessed, which she blamed on not having friends, but this seemed different. She didn't know how to do this friendship thing any better than she knew how to become an Animagi. Likely coming from her limited social events with Lily, her sister managing to thwart her-

No, Charlotte thought, wanting to mentally slap herself. I refuse to continue along this bloody path. She was done being self-centred.

Her lack of social graces was her own fault, and no one else's. Lily couldn't exactly help it that Charlotte managed to chase away all attempts at friendship. If anything, Lily probably hoped Charlotte would find a friend, that way she wouldn't have her sister hanging over her shoulder like a wet towel constantly. In fact, now that Charlotte actually took the time to think about it, almost on all accounts, Lily had done her best to help Charlotte get friends. She always introduced her to Lily's friends, encouraged Charlotte to go out and listened to her constant whining about this person and that girl forgetting her name again.

Though Lily Marie Evans could be a serious pain in the ass when she wanted to be she was generally a good sister. Charlotte certainly couldn't be awarded 'Sister of the year' anymore that Lily could. Though it baned her to admit it, she had her moments when she would become inscrutably insufferable. For no reason given, Charlotte would simply awaken one morning, and find reason to blame Lily for everything.

Charlotte had, but a few hours earlier, publicly disputed Lily, blaming her in front of all of her friends for Charlotte's social issues, drinking problems and relationship with their parents. None of that was really Lily's fault at all. Sometimes, she had the annoying ability to exacerbate the issues, but she was never the obvious cause. Charlotte needed someone to blame, and Lily was the closest thing she could find worthy of blaming, after all, everything Charlotte struggled with so much, it seemed to come all too easy to Lily.

"Charlotte?" Charlotte looked up to find Potter leaning forward, watching her intently, arms resting on his knees.

Then there was this boy, Charlotte thought with a sigh. She had majorly misjudged James…something, Potter. From first glance when he had approached her in the common room, all she saw was an obsessive womanising prat who had a particular penchant for making other people's lives miserable. A prat with a particularly attractive smile, and mop of hair that just wouldn't stay under control, who fancied her sister a hell of a lot more than he needed too.

Actually, that hadn't been her first glance at all. It had been her first conversation with him, but her first glance was 6 years ago on her very first night at Hogwarts. He was far different to how he was now, though she supposed he still had some similar traits if you looked hard, and knew him well enough.

He had different glasses, less ridiculous hair that was cut short instead of the 'trendy' hair he sported these days. His robes, like all other first years, were slightly baggy and he wasn't yet surrounded by swooning girls, his best mates and Sirius who was now, clearly, glued to his hip by some sort of enchantment in the first few weeks at Hogwarts.

Dinner had been extraordinary. Exciting on a level Charlotte and Lily had yet to experience. There was floating candles for Godric's sake. FLOATING CANDLES. Ironically Charlotte hadn't been all that surprised to find that Lily's friend Severus end up in Slytherin. Just from among conversations on the long train ride to Hogwarts, she knew that Slytherin was not a house you aspired to be in and she had always thought him a little… strange (though she obviously never voiced these concerns with Lily who, at the time, was as attached to him as Sirius was to Potter). Typically she fell into Gryffindor aside Lily, and all Gryffindors had clapped their approval instantly. For two muggleborn girls, who had gotten word on the train that there was a certain hierarchy when it came to magical blood, their welcome had meant everything. You'd be surprised with all the information they had learned on that 8hr train ride.

They had joined their house side by side and were just as excited as each other about starting their new school, for admittedly, their primary school had been a rather drab experience, both feared passing into stage 3 of their schooling. Muggle School wasn't nearly as interesting or impressive.

Charlotte was seated on the left of Lily and beside a boy who was much taller than her and was clearly in another year, probably third or fourth. It was all rather exciting when food magically appeared before them, they ate as much as they desired. Lily and Charlotte had chosen to discuss what classes they were most excited about, as they had both already gone to Diagon alley to purchase all they needed, including their school books. In their anticipation, they had read a few pages of each book, just to find out what exactly subjects like 'charms' and 'defence against the dark arts' really were.

They were in the middle of discussing if potions had a likeness to doctoring in the muggle world when a boy across Charlotte caught her eye. He was talking animatedly to a rather quiet boy beside him and she found it almost humorous how the conversation was playing out. Charlotte had been watching him for some time, when he had suddenly turned back to his food and met her eye for a moment. He sent her a smile, but Charlotte was too nervous and excited to do anything more than stare back at him. He most likely turned away when he realised she had no intention of reciprocating his friendly gesture, resuming his discussion with the quiet boy who had sandy blonde hair.

So she had acted like a bit of a ditz the first time she had met James Potter, but what had anyone really expected of her? That wasn't the only time where she and Potter had a run-in, but each time he had acted somewhat kindly, even if he had no idea who she was. All but one time he was nothing less than nice to her. Charlotte didn't generally like to relive that one certain memory as it was both an awkward and painful thing to remember. She couldn't help wincing at the mere thought of thinking of the memory. He had proven to be kind to a stranger, but it was Lily's opinion of him which managed to skew Charlotte's impression.

Though it wasn't actually Lily's fault, Charlotte amended with a sigh. At any time, Charlotte could have approached the boy to see if he was really as bad as Lily declared. She knew from a distance that he was certainly loud, somewhat obnoxious and mischievous like no one she had ever met. Charlotte simply chose to take Lily on her word. Lily was generally always right so she had no reason to distrust her word.

Now, she knew for certain that he was an obsessive womanising prat who had a particular penchant for making other people's lives miserable. Though she now understood his obsession with Lily was undoubtedly his own way of fancying a girl. He clearly liked her sister somewhat fiercely, enough so that he would reveal a criminal secret that could land him in one of the most feared prisons in magical existence, trusting a girl he had only spoken a few words to, and didn't remember most of the times they had actually met. He was an obnoxious prat who made her somewhat miserable; however there was innocence in it all. He never, not once, actually intended to harm her feelings. He didn't mean to be annoying, and so far she hadn't seen anything other than a boy who made a few jokes which she had, admittedly, overreacted at.

Her misjudgement of him had led her to continuous distrust and an out lash of unworthy blame. Yet here he was, sitting before her, attempting to console her when it was she who had made a fight with both him and Lily, over what? All Potter had managed to do was confess that she found him good looking. Something she had never done before, which would allow for a small amount of annoyance, but not the fury she had used against him. Half of Hogwarts found James Potter attractive, why was it such a surprise that Charlotte did as well?

His unruly hair was charming, his suave smile and dimples that only ever appeared when he was being playful and sly, fascinating. His jokes and easy going nature, rather appealing. His love for Quidditch and clear dedication and loyalty to his friends, amiable. All these qualities were attractive, and surely it wasn't at all surprising that Charlotte noticed this. No of course it wasn't surprising.

Godric, Charlotte thought with panic, am I blushing?

"Charlotte?"

"Mm?" Charlotte said, looking up with wide startled eyes. Her cheeks were aflame and she felt that familiar uncomfortable feeling roll over her stomach as she met the hazel eyes of Potter who had his brows furrowed. "Sorry, did you say something?"

Charlotte groaned when she realised that that truly sounded, to her own ears, as lame as she thought it did. Luckily, Potter clearly knew she had been deep in thought, though clearly not what about, because he was watching her seriously with an encouraging smile.

"What did you fight with Lily about?" He asked whilst brushing his hair back and pushing his glasses further back on the bridge of his nose all in one motion. Sometimes, Charlotte completely forgot he even wore glasses. His eyes were just so… clear.

What had she fought with Lily about? Charlotte thought back to earlier in the evening and felt that same fire burn slightly within her chest, though it was more annoyance than rage. She had been whiny and wrong about a lot of things these past few months, but Lily still didn't hold the right to tell her to do anything. Charlotte knew she was right by that fact. They were twins, sisters and on most accounts, friends. Charlotte never asked nor wanted a third parent, one who was in her every class and slept in the same room as her, and she'd stick by that account. If it was mothering that Lily was attempting to practise on her, she would find that Charlotte wouldn't be at all cooperative.

Still, she didn't have any intention of talking to Potter about it. For one, he'd likely take Lily's side.

"Potter I can't talk to you about this. You want to date my sister, it doesn't work like this." She found herself having to clarify when he simply rose one of his brows in question. Potter wasn't an idiot, so why exactly was she having to explain this? "It's like, against the rules. Isn't there some sort of sibling rules?"

"I wouldn't know," he answered with a shrug of his wide shoulders, smiling slightly.

"Right, only child," Charlotte muttered, mostly to herself. Stupid. She knew he didn't have any siblings; in fact she had no idea why she had even posed the question. It likely had something to do with the smile he gave her. "Well I'm fairly certain there is a rule against…" with her hand, she indicated the space between her and Potter which wasn't all that far considering they were in the closet still. "This."

It may have sounded stupid, actually, it likely was. Charlotte didn't know much about social conventions, but she was fairly certain that siblings didn't reveal their arguments with their twins to those individuals possible 'date', 'partner', 'significant other'. Already she had promised to talk to potter about things she knew Lily would kill her for. Should she really be including him in their fights as well?

That wasn't even mentioning the shame behind her drinking habit that she wasn't particularly excited in sharing with anyone. Though, rather admittedly, she already had a fair few personal conversations with both Potter and Sirius, and she didn't doubt that either could guess what it was she was hiding.

"So what, we can't be friends?" Potter laughed loudly, shaking his head simply at the thought of what she had suggested. "Sod that," he said with a disbelieving snort.

"I don't have friends potter," Charlotte pointed out, this time not intending to inflict any harm into her statement. She was simply telling him the facts. Unlike the other times she had hinted at her social 'deficiency', Potter simply watched her. Other times he would have interrupted her, even going so far as to look offended, which was fair enough really. "Don't take it personally," Charlotte finished, shrugging her shoulders.

Potter did something completely unexpected, considering the circumstances, he smiled, the kind of smile that brought out his dimples and Charlotte knew it meant something none too good. She made a mental note to always be wary of those dimples.

"Challenge accepted," he said with a wide smirk, snickering to himself as he rubbed his hands together. Charlotte couldn't help but wonder if Potter had issues, the kind that affect you mentally.

"That was a statement not a challenge invitation," Charlotte said frowning and shifting uncomfortably on the hard floor, not really finding a position that meant she wasn't in direct sight of his gaze, which is what she was attempting to escape. Now that she hadn't drank anymore, she was slightly more aware of her surroundings, specifically the boy across from her who hadn't seemed to move his hazel eyes off her for the entirety of the time he had been in the cupboard with her. Charlotte sighed, rather tired of being stared at. "You're not going to leave are you?"

"Nope!" Potter exclaimed a tad too loud, and possibly a little too happily. Charlotte couldn't help but stare distrustfully at the little dimples in his cheeks that held promises of all sorts of mischievous nonsense. "But that doesn't mean you have to talk to me, we can just sit here." She couldn't really tell if he said that as a joke, because he was just sitting there staring at her with a grin.

As though to prove a point, as they sat there in silence, Potter began whistling, what he likely thought to be, a merry tune. Okay, so he was mocking her, which was clear enough. He evidently had no intention of leaving until she shared the details of the argument with Lily, as he seemed more than happy to simply sit there.

"You're annoyingly persistent," Charlotte decided, pointing an accusing finger towards his general direction. Sure, persistence was never a bad thing, however Potter seemed to cross the bridge from a virtuous characteristic to overly irritating without even trying. "Like a bug. Like one of those really annoyingly small bugs that hang around you and you can't swat it because it's so small."

"... Thank you?" he answered uncertainly after a few moments of digesting her words where he seemed to just sit there in a state of confusion. He didn't seem to know whether or not he should be offended, likely because Charlotte hadn't said the odd statement with any humour or sarcasm.. She couldn't help but smile as she watched him dubiously send a hand through his hair.

"She doesn't approve of my drinking," Charlotte said with a sigh, smiling when Potter looked up in surprise. He tilted his head slightly and placed his hands on his knees again, a sign displayed with the intention of showing he was giving her his full attention. She certainly appreciated it, considering she still wasn't certain she should or wanted to talk about this. Ironically, Charlotte ran a hand of her own through her hair, not at all surprised when her hand was momentarily lodged into a bundle of stubborn knots. "She thinks if I'm in a situation with alcohol, I'll wind up drunk. So, she told me in no less words, that i cannot come tonight, publicly mocked me when she saw me with a bottle and called me an immature drunk."

Charlotte carefully watched Potter's reaction. It was, after all, a very sensitive topic for her.

"I don't mean to rub anything in, or take sides, but she's not exactly wrong about the drinking," He commented, pointing to the area where she had hidden the bottle. It _had_ been in the hopes he wouldn't see it, but that was apparently too good to be true. "You're down half a bottle already"

" It doesn't matter if she is right or wrong," Charlotte snapped, that same annoyance and anger running through her blood and making her cheeks redder than blood. She hadn't really known what she was expecting when she told him. He was infatuated with Lily, she shouldn't have been surprised that he took her side. Hadn't that been the reason she was so cautious about telling him in the first place? Realisation seemed to dawn on his daft mind, as his eyes widened and he smiled somewhat sheepishly, apologetically even. "She has no right to tell me what I can or can't do just because she doesn't 'Approve'!'

"I wasn't judging at all, truly, and you do make a fair point," he answered, rubbing the back of his neck and brushing his hair back in the same notion. His apologetic smile dropped and was replaced by a genuine smile, dimples and all. Instantly, Charlotte's brows lowered and she watched him warily, awfully suspicious of what he was going to say. "You know what I think you need right now?"

"Stronger alcohol?" Charlotte drooled with a sigh, looking over at the bottle on the shelf. Potter shook his head with a quiet laugh and stood up, towering over her seated form. Grabbing her arms, he hoisted her up suddenly. The room wasn't big to begin with, but with them both standing, it was practically a cubicle. She had attempted to stop him from pulling her up, but he was unsurprisingly very strong.

What are you doing?" Charlotte asked with an exasperated sigh. Not that she wasn't glad for his attempts to cheer her up, but he was just too odd for her to know what was going on in his head. She had no bloody idea what to expect when he did or said anything. He was far too unpredictable for his own good.  
One minute he was being irrefutably serious and the next he was joking around with a carefree attitude as though he had never been sincerely serious in his life. At least you could tell when Sirius was joking around, but with potter he was a rollercoaster of emotions and spontaneity.

Typically he decided to act completely predictable and did something completely unexpected. He held his arms out and began moving forward, flapping his hands in a motion. "Come on Charlotte," he said with wide puppy eyes, waving his arms towards him. Charlotte frowned as he made his way closer, if that was at all possible in such a small space. She held out a hand, stopping him from coming any closer, holding him back with a firm hand against his...firm chest. "Please step out of my bubble."

 _Surely he wasn't being serious?_

"Nope, come on. You'll feel better." She was beginning to swat away his hands if they came too close, which they continued to do like a persistent viper. _He was joking right_? Charlotte thought as she widened her eyes. He wasn't actually expecting her to hug him, in a broom closet of all places. They weren't even friends! more like friendly acquaintances. Friendly acquaintances never hugged in her books. "You know, i've been told by more than one that my hugs are simply magical."

"I highly doubt that," Charlotte muttered with a snort pushing away his insistent arms. He stepped forward, forcing her to step backwards right into the cupboard. He was only a hairs breath away, and those lean arms were just coming closer, and closer and closer. She shoved him back forcibly with both hands, not helping the quick laugh that escaped her mouth in a breath, but still managed to cover it with a cough afterwards. She was _NOT_ enjoying this. "Uh uh no !" She snapped as loudly, yet quietly as she could considering they were technically out past curfew. Technically out _long_ after curfew, as the party had started hours ago and curfew was 10pm.

"Don't resist my love Charlotte!" He cried dramatically forcing Charlotte to wince at how annoyingly loud it was, though she couldn't hide the small smile at his pathetic tone. He was whining like she was withholding him from food after being starved for days, not a simple hug. He obviously didn't know that, to Charlotte, there was no such thing as a 'simple hug'.

"I don't do hugs!" Charlotte screeched as she felt his arms wrap around her, one above her shoulder and the other underneath it, effectively trapping her in a state of panic. She was pulled tightly against him, so that not even an inch sat between their bodies.

Charlotte pulled away her arms and struggled against his hold. She even tried biting him and kicking his shin. She managed to elicit a hiss from within his grasp, but his arms remained wrapped around her like a cage. A highly restrictive cage that couldn't help create a swell of panic rise up in her stomach. _No one_ just came up to Charlotte and hugged her. Ever. Not even her parents unwillingly gave her a hug.

Eventually she gave up her attempts and let her arms swing limply to her sides. She attempted not to dwell on the fact that he was hugging her, which was hard in of itself considering she could feel his breath on her neck and his chest moving outwards in synchronisation. Simply the idea that another person that wasn't her family was embracing her in a kind manner seemed so… Wrong and, well perhaps perverted is the incorrect term. It wasn't as though he was forcibly trying to sleep with her; he was just, in his own odd, infuriatingly innocent way, attempting to comfort her. It was just so foreign that she didn't even know how to process what was going on.

Charlotte once again found herself stunned by James Potter. Only a few hours ago she was screeching his ears off for playing a small prank, a joke really, and here he was hugging her as though they were inseparable friends. Quite literally, as he still hadn't moved his arms or changed the pressure of his hold. She had to wonder if he hugged all his friends with this level of ferocity.

If Charlotte wasn't so uncomfortable with the feeling of his arms around her, she would almost have felt the action to be endearing. However it was hard to find anything charming about Potter when he had you in a hold against your will.

"See? Isn't this nice? All warm and comforting," He cooed into Charlotte's ear, rotating slowly as though he was rocking her to sleep. His head was nuzzled into her neck and she could feel his thick hair brushing against the smooth skin of her ears and neck causing goose bumps to rise on her arms at an infuriatingly fast rate.  
Charlotte's felt her eyes widening in what one would could only call as revulsion. _What the bliming hell is this idiot doing_ , Charlotte's mind screeched.

The boy was clearly barmy.

"Release me," Charlotte gritted out, attempting to push him off her. With the way he was responding, she may as well have been pounding her fists against a brick wall.

She heard, and felt, him chuckle within their hug. The reverberation of his laughs seemed to cause that uncomfortable feeling in Charlotte's stomach, a feeling she was beginning to find predictable, and further increase it to a point where she felt as though her stomach, or whatever else was reacting so violently, to escape out of her ribcage. She felt tingles in her toes and a fire burning her ears.

Later she would likely reflect on this moment, realising that all these feelings and emotions, were the result of being hugged by someone so tightly without any conviction. Sure, she'd 'hugged' Sirius practically only a night ago, but that felt different. It was the intimacy that made her feel nauseous. Sirius _had_ to hold her in his arms in order to apparate, and he made light of it by joking. Potter however, was only making the current predicament feel more uncomfortable by whispering in her ear and moving. He should have known that Charlotte didn't just give out free hugs to whoever consoled her, especially considering Lily was the only one he ever saw her with. He should have known that she would find it not only awkward, but confusing.

Why was he hugging her? Was it out of pity? Was it a sign of affection or an invitation of friendship as he had dared to prove only minutes ago? _Why is this so confusing,_ Charlotte thought with a sigh, slumping her head only slightly into his hold, hoping he wouldn't feel that she was responding to his intrusion of her space. She was exhausted, both emotionally and physically, and didn't have the will nor care to be asking herself those sorts of questions.

Charlotte hadn't slept, in what felt like, weeks. She had been sure that the fainting spell which had taken over her so suddenly at their midday meal, was a clear indication that she, not only needed more sleep, but shouldn't be spending all her waking hours with that bloody Animagus book at her side. She read until the wee hours of the morning, and spent every minute of her break and eating time reading. It was one of the hardest most confusing works of literature she had ever encountered, with the feeling that she may need a dictionary to simply decode the English, becoming more blatantly clear.

"I refuse until you tell me my hugs are awesome," Potter said with a smirk that Charlotte didn't need to see to know he was expressing.

"You're an idiot," Charlotte muttered against his thick hair which was nestled against her face.

The alcohol was apparently only just making an appearance, because she had the odd urge to discover if his hair was really as thick as it looked when he brushed a hand through it. One quick swipe of her hand would answer her question, without a doubt, and she could always disguise the action by returning the hug. Then again, if she returned the hug, who knows how long, they would be standing there hugging. It already felt like they had beaten some sort of record, for it had to of been several minutes.

She thought about it, probably for a fair few more seconds than necessary, but was proud (and relieved) when her arms remained as dead limbs pinned to her side.

"Bow bow, wrong answer," He said, beginning to sway the both of their bodies again. Her eyes widened and she found herself inwardly sighing. Charlotte muttered what he asked of her, and could feel him laughing, yet he didn't release her, if anything his hold around her tightened.

"Sorry what was that Charlotte? I've got bad hearing."

 _Bad hearing my ass._

"Your hugs are magical" Charlotte said eventually through gritted teeth, attempting to sound as complacent as possible. She almost collapsed in relief when he finally took a step back from her and gave a triumphant smile. He seemed so _pleased_ with himself, though he really had nothing to be pleased about. She said it so he would let her go, therefore he was victorious of absolutely nothing. That hug had been nothing more than annoying. Annoying and uncomfortable and forced upon. Though, she couldn't lie and say she didn't feel better about the whole Lily thing…

Okay so perhaps she had enjoyed that hug a little bit. Once Charlotte got over the idea that it was the boy who was creepily obsessed over her sister that she had hugged, it wasn't really that bad.

"You're not the only gal who's thought that," Potter said with a suggestive wink, forcing Charlotte to raise a confused brow. Was he suggesting he forced other unsuspecting witches into his arms? Though, they probably found it more welcoming… "I have a tendency to please the ladies" he said, drooling his words slowly in a low husky voice that, Charlotte supposed, he thought attractive.

Charlotte _had_ thought the hug wasn't bad, and then he went off and said something completely inappropriate like that and all positive thoughts seemed to fly out of the room faster than he could catch on a broom. What had she been thinking of earlier? About how oddly his emotions seemed to jump from polar opposites in a matter of seconds.

"Honestly you are terrible. Shut your mouth before you scar my innocent brain," Charlotte said with a sigh, rubbing her forehead in slow soothing circles as though trying to remove some sort of inappropriate imagery. She was thankful she hadn't drunk anymore of the firewhiskey as, knowing her past experiences, her mind wandered somewhat dramatically. If her alcohol level was any higher, she'd have no doubt all sorts of unwanted inappropriate imagery would have flooded her mind. She did, after all, still have the fresh image of him topless only in a towel from that morning. Charlotte decided it was just another advantage to giving up the dreadful habit and drink whose taste she didn't even really care for. Another advantage would also be not having the piercing headaches she seemed to be getting lately after drinking. What she wouldn't give for another of Remus' hangover potions. She really needed to get the ingredients to that.

With a sigh and a somewhat, tired and hesitant smile, she met Potters gaze, not noticing that he had been watching her conflicting expression whilst having her mental argument. "Let's get you back to Lily so you can impress her with your homework skills."

Potter met her smile and nodded, turning around and opening the door quietly. He stuck his head out and looked around, opening the door after whispering that the 'Coast was clear'. Charlotte flicked the light off and made to leave the closet, though quickly leant back down and grabbed the firewhiskey bottle first. She couldn't fathom the trouble Gryffindor house would be in, if a bottle of firewhiskey was found on the morrow of Remus' party, which would no doubt be talked about around the school for the following few nights. Gryffindors did, after all, have the reputation of throwing rather chaotic and memorable parties. Charlotte simply hoped that her fall out early hadn't been an addition to that reputation.

Once they were both soundly out of the closet and the door was closed and locked shut with a few spells from Potter, they both began walking down the hallway. The common room wasn't far off, but far enough that they were both on high alert to every noise. Neither used their wands as a lumos, too afraid that they would wake up a painting or if a teacher did happen to walk by, be alerted by the light instantly.

"She'll definitely fall for me when she sees my perfect grammar," Charlotte heard Potter whisper from her right side and she couldn't help but snort. Though she knew he had been joking, she found it comical because Lily was attracted to the smarter boys. She always had a crush on the wizards who had accomplished something of high value. Once could say she was attracted to power, except Charlotte knew her too well. She'd seen the way she would sometimes stare dreamy eyed at a few of the Ravenclaw boys who were far too studious for their own mental good. She was attracted to their brains, and luckily for potter, though he _acted_ like an idiot, he wasn't one.

"Punctuation is rather sexy," Charlotte added monotonously as she rounded a corner. She stilled instantly when she saw a light at the end of the hallway, and felt, rather than saw, a hand encase her shoulder and pull her back out of sight. Though it was terribly dark, she saw Potter nod to her, then lean over her frame to look around the corner. They waited there until the light disappeared and didn't come back for many moments more.

Charlotte wouldn't tell anyone this, not even Lily, but she found an odd rush run through her veins as she awaited the signal to keep walking. All her life she had been sticking to the rules because it meant she was only half a step behind Lily. The only thing she had ever gotten into trouble for was the time she stole the broom out of the Gryffindor locker, as she had told Potter, and she hadn't had a single inkling to do anything of the sort again. The adrenaline rushing through her system was a new feeling, something that made her feel more alive than she had been for a long time, and it was a welcoming feeling.

She was so distracted by the excitement of what they were doing, that it took several nudges from the boy beside her to get her to start walking again. She edged out from around the corner, though she didn't start walking yet. _Have to be sure_ she thought, not helping the small smile edging on her mouth.

"Thank you Charlotte. I am rather sexy, aren't I?" Charlotte heard him whisper again from just behind her, though this time she didn't snort, rather she scrunched her face up in confusion. Godric he could be insufferable sometimes. At the worst of times! She had managed to stroke his ego earlier at the party by admitting how attractive he was, and here was now, fishing for more compliments. If she didn't know he was joking, she would find him pathetic.

"Oh shut up and get your arse out there," She whispered back in an annoyed voice, grabbing onto his arm in the dark and pulling it beside and past her in a gentle shove. They began their slow treck forward, their feet barely making a sound against the wooden slats of the hallway. _Only a few more corridors_ Charlotte thought with determination, that same small smile returning to her face. She felt Potters arm brush beside hers, and turned to face him slightly, leaning forward so she wouldn't have to whisper so loudly. "That didn't even make sense you moron."

In Potters defence, he did well not to laugh loudly and simply snickered softly though she could tell from the way he shook, that he would have laughed louder if he could. "It didn't have to make sense. Sexy and James potter in the same sentence is all that matters." He answered back a mere breath away from Charlottes ear.

She could hear the smugness in his tone, and on instinct felt the need to slap him upside the head, though she wasn't absolutely certain where his head was. Charlotte would probably be more likely to slap him in the face if she tried, so instead she jutted her hip out slightly, smiling when it hit against his and pushed him slightly to the side. "How about: I don't find James potter sexy because he is an obnoxious ass?" Had he of seen her expression, he probably would have scowled at the shit-eating grin that was plastered on her face. She didn't even really know why she felt so cocky; it likely had something to do with all the sneaking around and the small amount of alcohol in her system.

Charlotte was also enjoying joking around with him, possibly a little too much.

"Lying doesn't suit you," came the muttered reply as they circled around yet another corner. Charlotte rolled her eyes but focused on what was ahead of her, every now and then glancing backwards, ensuring no lights were following them. "Can I ask, did you decide I was sexy before or after you saw me in a towel?"

Charlottes back stiffened at the rather forward and abrupt question, though it faltered when she remembered that he was only joking around with her. Then she thought about the question a little more. She had always found him to be rather attractive, and admittedly, he did have a toned and defined upper half that _could_ be considered physically attractive, but _sexy?_ Potter was many things, but she had yet to see him as sexy. _Not that I want to of course!_ Charlotte amended in her mind, stumbling over her feet slightly. This is exactly why she got annoyed when people asked her nonsense like this. She'd just say anything if she wasn't too careful, and she was immediately thankful for their current situation and the inability to voice her thoughts. She was also very thankful that it was dark and he couldn't see the blush on her cheeks.

"Potter, I have my wand with me, I suggest you shut your mouth," Charlotte said through gritted teeth, rolling her eyes when she heard a scoff to her right. He clearly didn't believe she would _actually_ use her wand against him, and she had the crazy instinct to suddenly pull it out. Thankfully she went against her instincts, shook her head and continued quietly walking.

"You know," Potter said, leaning into her side to whisper. She had a desire to shove him off her, but went against it, knowing it would likely just cause unnecessary racket. Charlotte could always hit him upside the head once they were within the safe and soundproof walls of their common room. "I'm just going to have to assume you've always found me sexy." Charlotte paused in her steps, her lip twitching slightly in annoyance. Her hand reached into her dress and she pulled it out, pressing it against her lips in thought. She pointed her wand in the direction she had guessed he was standing and whispered a soft _incendio_ she knew wouldn't do anything more than shoot a few soft flames out. Charlotte waited patiently as a tiny light built at the top of her wand, and a singular flame shot straight out of the top and hit potter directly where she had wanted to hit him.

She watched in amusement as it lit a small flame on his trousers, the light finally catching his attention. He swung around quickly likely expecting a teacher to be behind him, but when he was met with the same darkness that had been there before; she could easily guess he was confused. It was probably the heat of the flame that finally gave away the fire literally lighting his ass, and she struggled not to burst with laughter as he patted as furiously and quietly as he could.

"What the bloody _fucking_ hell was that Charlotte?!" He whispered harshly, coming to her side, a hand resting on his backside. Charlotte had to curiously wonder whether the flames had burnt a whole through his trousers. Easily fixable if you knew the right charms, which was a shame honestly, it would have been hilarious to see him walk around with a burn hole on his backside.

"I can't help it if you're so… _Hot_ " Charlotte answered in the most attractive voice she could attempt. It was dead quiet for a few moments, and then Charlotte burst out laughing, loudly without even thinking of the consequences. The tiredness was definitely settling in, because it hadn't really been that funny. She'd have to bet Potter was _at least_ smiling at her joke, even as he attempted to quieten her rather boisterous laugh.

When he finally got her to be quiet enough, she was wiping tears out of her eyes and breathing heavily. He told her that her jokes hadn't been at all funny considering it was true, but she _knew_ he was smiling.

The rest of the walk back to the common room wasn't all silent, though it really should have been considering the time. He prattled on lightly about what she had missed since her toss with Lily, and Charlotte found herself only half listening absorbed in the strange comforting feeling of being in the presence of a friend. Something she wouldn't have even considered or dreamed of days or weeks ago. When he wasn't being so annoying, Charlotte found it not completely unbearable to be around him.

He asked her a few questions about herself that she found rather… Well, odd. She answered back as quietly as she could, telling him small bits and pieces of her childhood with Lily that he was suddenly curious about. Though, she supposed, Lily didn't give him much of a chance, so it wasn't likely that he knew much about either of their childhoods. She shared about when they got their Hogwarts letters, when they went to Diagon alley, when they held their wands. She joked about how annoyed she was that Lily didn't tell her about being a witch before the letters, and told him of her parent's reactions to the news that their eldest twin daughters were witches. Knowing it was a touchy subject, she spoke little about Severus and Lily. He asked about her friends in her first year, and she told him about the few girls in her potions class from Gryffindor and Ravenclaw that she got on fairly well with.

Then Charlotte told him how, one by one, each girl didn't speak to Charlotte anymore. They didn't run to sit beside her in class or ask to borrow her notes. They didn't meet up at her archway to discuss homework or teachers or boys. When she confronted them, slightly in fear that she had done something wrong, they were surprised to see her for some odd reason. She told him how this was a regular occurrence until one day, when Charlotte approached the table in potions class, Catriona, a Ravenclaw, asked if she was a new student. She told him how she never went back to that potions table. She told him how she sat alone, or with Lily at all times. She never avoided others, they avoided her.

Charlotte paused in their discussion when she realised they had been standing outside the common room painting for quite some time. She had planned on asking Potter if he wanted to go inside, but didn't utter a word when she realised how deep in thought he seemed. He was staring at the ground with a hand under his chin supported by his other arm, standing casually against the wall. His brows were furrowed and he looked both partially confused and intrigued.

Charlotte had to wonder if he was thinking about what she told him. It would make sense, considering she had been the one to speak most of the journey and Potter had quite obligingly listened, only interrupting to ask more questions or for clarification.

"Potter?" She said softly, watching as his eyes snapped to hers and his serious demeanour fell away with the drop of his arms to his side. She stood oppsotie him, leaning partially against the wall just underneath a painting which was currently asleep.

"Uh uh uh, I only answer to James now," He replied smartly, a grin resting calmly on his face. Now that they were at the common room, a small light sat above the Gryffindor painting, and she could see the shadows of his face and his outline.

"How about I call you idiot?" Charlotte said with a fair amount of sarcasm and a brow lifted in indignation.

"Well it's not James, so I wouldn't answer, obviously." Charlotte rolled her eyes at his tone and had to hold back a smile as she watched him grin at her with those dimples.

"Smartass," She muttered, loudly enough on purpose.

"Rude," he replied with a mock offended scoff, crossing his arms over his chest.

"James?" Charlotte bit out with mock irritation watching as he smiled in triumph at his given name. Honestly she couldn't tell why he was so darn persistent in having her call him James. Then again, she wasn't overly sure why she didn't call him James. Sure, it was funny enough when she called him Potter and he acted all annoyed, but she truly didn't have an agenda behind it. She was simply used to hearing his Family name opposed to his given one. Lily never called him anything other than Potter unless she was really aggravated, in which case she would use his full name and a fair few incomprehensible words that she seemed to use in place of swear words.

So why didn't Charlotte just call him James? It did seem odd that she called Sirius, Sirius and Remus, Remus but not Potter, James.

"Yes?" He answered sweetly, his eyes widened in a look of feigned innocence, a look that didn't seem to suit him at all honestly.

She was originally going to suggest they go inside, but another thought occurred to her as she stared at his carefree mile for a few seconds. Whether Charlotte liked it or not, they were friends now. _Friends_. She hadn't exactly had another friend, besides lily, for some time, and for good reason. It started the same and always, _always_ ended the same way. It was the reason why she didn't want to be his friend, the reason she was so distrustful, the reason why she hadn't simply said yes to help him in the first place and the reason why she was reluctant to get close to anyone. She'd end up hurt, friendless and alone in the end and it would be double as painful as it was the first time.

If she wanted to be friends with Potter, and defeat the odds she had standing against her, he needed to be made clear of how serious it was for her to have a friend, for he clearly wasn't as perceptive as he thought he was, or he wouldn't have even thought to hug her earlier.

"Can you…uh…." Charlotte started, rubbing her neck as she struggled to find the exact words she needed. "Do you think you could promise me something?"

"Depends what it is," He answered with a nonchalant shrug.

"As you may have possibly guessed, I don't have many friends…." She waited for a moment for him to say a joke or cut her out, but he surprised her by simply watching her thoughtfully. She bit her lip for a moment and cleared her throat. What was it that she actually wanted him to promise? It wasn't like they were 10 years old and making a best-friends-forever pact with bracelets and a secret handshake, they were just friends. Why did 'just friends' seem so much complicated to her than it did to others?

"I suppose I gave up trying after the first few years after all the people who ignored or forgot me. As you can imagine it's a little demeaning having to introduce yourself over and over again to the same person. I just gave up I suppose and I… Well I haven't had a friend for awhile, other than Lily of course who I'm really not sure counts considering the circumstances-"

"Charlotte?" Potter said with a small worried smile. She noticed that he brought his arm out, likely to rest on her shoulder, but thought better of it, and swung it back my his side. He had stopped her mid babble, and she was thankful, though rather embarrassed. "You said you had a Question ?"

"Well its not really a question." Charlotte clarified with a sigh, kicking the toe of her shoe against the ground. "More of a request honestly. If there is one thing you could do for me, it would be not forgetting me," Charlotte struggled out, having to clear her throat several times. She found her head lowering to the ground, and she wasn't at all sure if she was able to meet his eyes after such an odd request, particularly when her voice had been so obviously hoarse with emotion. "I know how pathetic that sounds, like the end of a bad romance novel..."

"You're right; it is kind of coming across that way." He said with a smirk, tilting his head.

Charlotte scowled at him in disapproval, but continued when she saw he wasn't going to interrupt again.

"I can handle a lot," Charlotte said with a sigh, meeting his gaze head on. "But I would rather not be friends with you and have you forget me, then know the value of your friendship only to lose it when you no longer recognise who I am."

It was surprising, even to her own ears how honest and raw those words felt coming out of her mouth. Charlotte would truly rather not be friends with Potter and even Sirius if it meant that in a few days, weeks or even months, they went back to acting as though she didn't exist. For only as short time that night, Charlotte had spent talking and joking around with Potter, and for the first time since she could remember, she was smiling as though she had no weights on her shoulders and laughing harder than she had thought possible. She genuinely enjoyed the time she spent with him, and she was certain that it would be worse than any other failed friendship to have those hazel eyes look at her as though they had never seen her before.

"Charlotte..." He began, sending a hand through his hair quickly. He shook his head and took a step closer towards her, grabbing onto both of her shoulders with his hands. Her eyes widened but she didn't shove them off, considering they were only resting there, not actually holding her tightly. Understanding flooded through the browns of his eyes and fell into the depths of the blue hidden near the pupil. A realisation and understanding of why she hadn't trusted him, why she didn't want any of his affection or struggled to joke around with him as Sirius or even Remus and Peter would. She was genuinely afraid of what may happen if she started to care for another person only to be let down.

Though Charlotte knew, he couldn't possibly understand what it was like; she appreciated the care in his eyes, his smile and the way he held her shoulders. Though he didn't know, he was trying to and that was likely more comforting than his failed attempt at a hug earlier.

"I solemnly swear that I won't forget you," Potter answered back in a surprisingly serious voice. Charlotte's lips cracked and fell into a grateful smile, one Potter mirrored instantly. Well, it would have been considered a mirror, if not for those pesky dimples that appeared. "If I did, who would help me with lily?"

"You're an idiot." Charlotte muttered, stepping away from his hold and walking towards the common room painting, though not without a small smile on her face. She knocked quietly and a student came to the painting, opening it slightly, before opening it all the way and walking back into the well lit room without even saying a word. And Charlotte had thought _she_ was antisocial. She couldn't help the small scoff that escaped her lips as she stepped into the painting.

"I'm actually James." Potter, or James as Charlotte supposed, clarified as he stepped in behind her. Charlotte decided she could at least _try_ to get used to using his first name even when simply thinking of him.

"And I'm Charlotte," She answered with a smirk, turning to face him in the small corridor to the common room where they could already hear music and talking flooding in, though not nearly as loud as earlier. _Thank Godric for that_ Charlotte thought, still feeling the sharp pain of a headache coming on.

She watched with wide amused eyes and a single brow raised on her forehead as Pot- _James_ bent forward at the waist in a bow that was rather regal looking."Pleasure to meet you," he said in a suave tone, standing back up and smiling widely with both of his dimples on display.

Charlotte rolled her eyes and turned from him, walking into the common room muttering incomprehensible as the sound of laughter followed her shortly after.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Hello everyone! So sorry this took so long to get out, especially considering it was practically ½ done by the time I uploaded chapter 12, woops! I hope its okay considering it hasn't been beta'd AT ALLLLLLLLL but it will be, so ill let you know if anything drastic changes.**

 **Can I just point out that this story is currently sitting on 219 followers with 17,000 views? That's pretty fan-freaking-tastic if you ask me!**

 **I wasn't really a fan of last chapter (big surprise there) but I got good reviews from it so… *shrugs*.**

 **I like that this is 100% James and Charlotte chapter XD It's a little too fluffy at the end, so of course I made James lighten the mood a little. How awkward would it be if he hugged her again AMIRIGHT?! I hope I wrote that okay… I have always thought of James as this warm cuddly person so I chose to make him give Charlotte a warm cuddly hug. Charlotte ain't one of his fangirls so obviously shes a little 'WTH are you doing?!'**

 **I'm not going to even lie and saw chapter 14 will be out soon, cause I really have no idea when I will have the time again to write. Just assume that I'm working on it, okay? Xx**

 **BTW- for anyone who cares about my personal life ( no one) I quit my god awful job that paid less than a 13 yr old deserves. YAY. So more writing soon haahhaha. I would REEEEALLLY love to just write 10+ chapters in one sitting of beautifully inspired writing. That way I could just post 1 chapter a month and everyone would be happy for ages. Seriously though, were almost at 100,000. That's flipping crazy.**

 **Im so bloody sleep deprived, so im going now XD**

 **Night!**

 **FOLLOW/FAVOURITE/REVIEW**

 **XXXX**

 **p.s I know I took out that massive summary, but it needs to be condensed and changed, so I just put the chorus for centuries by fall out boys instead XD**


	14. Chapter 14

_Some legends_ _are told_

 _Some turn to dust or_ _to gold_

 _But you will remember me_

 _Remember me for centuries_

 **Chapter Fourteen**

* * *

 **(-Lily-)**

Lily watched closely, her eyes cinched tight, as a few third years made their way over to the drinks table. Inconspicuous in their own minds, she had known from the moment they looked over at the drinks table they would try something. These bottles, however, had been charmed herself to disable any witch or wizard under the age of 17 from even touching them. She felt her lips falling into a sinister smirk as they stepped even closer, one of them even going so far as to reach out.

She didn't even have to say anything, remove any points or scold them, for they got the shock of their life as soon as that one girl touched the bottle. Lily had placed the charm so that all members would receive the short zap of electricity, and she watched with pride as they jumped in unison drawing the attention of most of the people around them. It wasn't painful enough to actually cause harm, but it didn't certainly draw attention to them.

They had been the third group to try that night, the first two leaving just as embarrassed. Honestly, Lily had wanted the privilege of deducting house points, but Remus had practically begged her to sway her prefect badge, just for the night. She wasn't an idiot, and knew he was asking more for his idiot friends than anyone else. Remus wasn't a drinker, prankster or party goer so it was rather obvious that Black and Potter were behind his plea.

Because they didn't have the balls to ask me myself, Lily thought with a roll of her eyes.

Speaking of Potter and Black, she could easily see Black from where she sat with Alice, but Potter was surprisingly missing. Surprising only because they were inseparable little gits that enjoyed making her life harder than necessary. Honestly, why Remus even bothered to put up with them, she would never understand. They were loud, obnoxious, rude bullies and thought the world, or rather hogwarts, revolved around their very footsteps. Just the way either of the stepped into a room ugh. Not even the great hall is big enough for their conjoined ego's.

Lily had often invited Remus to sit with her but he generally declined unless he had work to do, which was often, and he couldn't do it with those idiots around because they made so much noise, all the time. He was in trouble often, for their sakes, covered in all sorts of bruises, probably from their nonsense pranking, and she was fairly certain he did all their homework. They were just thorns, and she could never understand why he would refuse to acknowledge it.

Now Charlotte was socialising with them. Lily could feel her temper boiling at the thought of her twin who had yet to come back from her temper tantrum. She was always blaming Lily for anything that went wrong in her life, and Lily was bloody done with it. For 6 years, she'd listen to Charlotte whine about this or that because she had no one else to vent to.

Don't prejudge Lily, she absolutely cared for her sister. Though she hadn't known why or what for, Charlotte had been their for Lily when their sister Petunia caught her practising magic, and called her a freak. Charlotte had yelled at Petunia and told their parents that it was all lies. She then went on to comfort Lily and quietly listened as Lily shared her insecurities. That was a long time ago...

Lately however, Lily has seen Charlotte fall back into some really bad patterns. She was becoming obsessive over some book she carried around with her always, she hardly slept and she had gone back to drinking copious amounts of alcohol. Lily didn't even know where she purchased all the alcohol or where she managed to get the money for it. Their parents certainly wouldn't allow for her to be spending money on something that they'd found out in the past to be very damaging.

Lily warned her, time and time again, but Charlotte refused to listen. They've had their fair share of fights before, but their argument, or arguments, of the past few days have managed to top anything the two siblings have ever had. A lot of deeply rooted issues that Lily had only speculated on had managed to come up, and she wasn't really at all surprised. Charlotte was generally better at concealing it, but Lily knew she envied her.

Charlotte envied her marks, her friends, her relationship with their parents. Lily wouldn't even be surprised if she was jealous of the annoying attention she got from Potter, no matter how unwanted it was. Most of the time, Lily felt bad for her.

She'd watched year after year as she slipped further and further into social exclusion. Charlotte went through stages of hope, fear and total disappointment and depression when it all ended the same way. Charlotte refused to tell Lily what exactly she did to make people so adverse to her friendship, but she refused to tell her, merely saying that she didn't know, which lily figured was a blatant lie.

And now….

Lily pursed her lips, sitting a little higher in the chair she was sharing with Alice. 'Apparently' she was friends with both Potter AND Black, which meant she'd likely be friends to both Remus and Peter in only a matter of time. They were a package deal after all, as Lily well knew. At least Remus and Peter isn't as bad as the other two...

Why, of all the people at hogwarts, she have to chose Potter and Black. The most idiotic boys she had the displeasure of knowing on a personal basis. She hadn't been fond of either of them since first year, when they began picking on Severus. Then the pranks started, and only increased in intensity to the point where it had, as she believed, pushed him into a lifestyle he never wanted.

Perhaps if Black wasn't always a protections ass, Lily might actually be able to have a conversation with him that didn't end in a potential wand fight. And maybe, just maybe, if Potter would stop asking Lily out just long enough, she might actually see what kind of person he was.

He proclaimed that he changed, that he was ashamed of how he had bullied Severus and a few Hufflepuffs and Slytherins that were easy prey. Except he never used the word bullying. He would skirt around it on purpose, avoiding direct blame. Not to mention that she still caught him mocking the first year slytherins every now and then.

"Pathetic," Lily mumbled, idly twirling her wand around between her hands. Charlotte had her nervous ticks, and so did Lily. However, Charlotte's didn't seem to cause other people anxiety the way it did when Lily began twirling her wand.

"What's pathetic?," Charlotte turned, an innocent smile on her face, as she met the eyes of the only person who could tell that her smile was as fake as day. Alice's brow was cocked up in the air with a look that simply read, your not fooling me.

And she couldn't help it, her fake smile melted Into a real one. Alice , with her ridiculously curly blonde hair, short cut fringe and smile so genuine that lily was even jealous sometimes. She was a short round girl, someone filled with so much genuine emotion that it scared Lily sometimes.

"The nerve on some people never fail to surprise Alice. Sometimes I just have the feeling that Merlin cursed certain individuals, myself obviously, to have to put up with the nonsense of others." Lily said with a hard look, staring forward.

Alice stared at Lily for a few moments before she turned in the chair, virtually isolating the two from the rest of the group who were in an intense competition of exploding snap. She looked her down with a hard look, clasping her hands together tightly under her chin.

"So Potter then?" Alice said with a knowing look that quickly morphed into innocence once Lily have her a 'don't start look'.

"Actually-" Lily said after a moment, thinking about what she was really annoyed at.

"Charlotte?" Alice guessed with a sad smile. Lily let out a brisk sigh and nodded firmly.

Their conversation had affected her far more than she anticipated. She could hardly tell what she was even feeling for her sister anymore, it was simply a muddled amount of emotions built up from too many days of late study nights.

She knew she was hurt, angry, annoyed. But she was also sad and disappointed, the latter taking over precedence for how she would prefer the night ended. Lily was rather hopeful that they might reconcile, that way she wouldn't feel so bloody guilty all the time, and possibly eliminate the possibility that she became friends with Potter and Black, because THAT could never end in disaster.

Lily even thought she looked rather nice tonight. Charlotte was never one to wear anything more dressy than nice pants, so really, It was surprising to not only see her in a dress, but with her hair curled and makeup that made her facial features pop in a way Lily hadn't even thought possible. Her dress had been an odd choice, to be sure. Either incredibly outdated or far before its time. But lily had to admit, it looked brilliant on Charlotte's figure.

Her intention when she came into the dorm, looking at her twin, was to bridge the gap. Once and for all. But then Charlotte gave the look. Her look which only meant one thing, and could only be expressed in some rather unsavoury words that Charlotte had the kindness to share rather rudely, that Lily had no intention of repeating. Once Charlotte gave that look, Lily just felt her kindness fall from her grip like the fire whiskey, she had no doubt, was slipping down Charlotte's throat.

So, 'you look fantastic' turned into, 'what are you wearing.' 'Be careful tonight' turned into 'you're not going.' 'Think about what you're doing,' turned into 'your being immature.' And everything turned into a great big disaster, a public spectacle for the night. Fantastic.

Lily felt her spine sharpen and her brow furrow the second she saw them walk through the entrance painting. Charlotte and Potter were together, she a step before him, scowling yet humour in her eyes. Potter was laughing unashamedly, watching Lily's sister with a wide smile and mirth in his eyes. Against her better judgement (and wishes) Lily wondered what on earth had gone on to cause such a reaction.

"Lily did you hear a word I said?" Lily turned to Alice and raised a single brow In question. Alice sighed dejectedly, shaking her head. "You haven't have you? Lily you really should get more sleep…"

More sleep? If anything, Lily should be getting less sleep considering end of year exams were not far off. And I'm lagging behind, she thought grimly. Lily simply nudged her head in the direction of the doorway where her sister and Potter were conversing. "It's Charlotte and Potter." Lily said simply.

"Hmm?" Alice muttered, turning to look where Lily was indicating. She didn't seem at all shocked by the situation, but she seemed to understand Lily's annoyance at least. She hummed thoughtfully, watching the two. "fraternising with the enemy…" Alice said with a mock scoff and glare in their direction.

Of course, Alice didn't really think Potter was the enemy, nor did she believe Charlotte fraternising with him was a bad thing. She only said it for one reason, and like always it worked.

"I think that might be a bit dramatic," Lily said shaking her head, not helping the smile that graced her face. Alice nudged her shoulder and gave her a smile of her own, her eyes twinkling slightly.

For as long she dared believe, Alice had been there for her. In the Christmas break when petunia was too much and Charlotte too moody, Alice would always be an owl message away. She'd drop in unannounced and spend the day with Lily, making her smile and generally having a good time. No, they weren't as close as Lily imagined she had been with Severus at one point, but she was a constant in Lily's life.

Lily turned back to the pair, looking on with less annoyance and more curiosity. Alice had worked her magic, and that simmering anger she had felt for Charlotte and constant exasperation she experienced when around Potter, managed to settle for the moment. At least enough that she could look at the situation with a clear head and open mind. "Since when are they friends anyway?" Lily muttered to herself, not at all with the intention of being answered.

As far as Lily was aware, Charlotte didn't have any friends. It had been odd enough seeing Charlotte walk over to Black and Potter, sit comfortably opposite Remus and chat away with them all like they actually had something worth chatting about. She didn't mean that in a bad way; she simply never thought of her sister as having any friends, and when she always imagined the time she finally would find some, she certainly didn't expect that lot.

"Well, I'm not sure. She has been talking to both Black and Potter the last few days, on several occasions," Alice mused, breaking Lily's thoughts for a moment. "Around the time you had your little spat in the great hall. Which I've been meaning to talk to you about by the way." Lily groaned as Alice gave her a slightly amused stern look. She was about to be scolded. "Just what exactly were you thinking?"

"Might need to be a tad more specific Alice." Lily muttered.

A group of students in the year under them passed by, saying their greetings and making idle chit chat. Lily recognised two of the girls as Ravenclaws, and the rest were Hufflepuffs as far as she could remember. When the conversation ran thin between the group and Lily and Alice, they went on their way.

"Telling Charlotte what to do, no good has ever come from doing that." Lily sighed, hanging her head when she realised that the interruption hadn't managed to swade Alice's attempts at all.

"You know how things are Alice," Lily said as they sat back down on some chairs nearest the bookcases in the large room. "I couldn't really help it. I honestly didn't mean to step over that line from sisterly care into….."

"Bitch?" Alice suggested with a knowing look. Lily sighed again, knowing Alice didn't mean the word to be an attack. She nodded numbly and looked out into the crowd, her thoughts muddled and confusing. Her eyes managed to refocus on Charlotte and Potter, who were both looking at a large painting on the wall, their heads tilted in almost identical angles.

"I have to admit, I am rather shocked by their friendship," Lily mused aloud. "I saw them at lunch, but i just thought they had asked her to sit with them for one time."

Alice looked out the Charlotte and Potter, seeing what Lily saw. "I agree, they do seem close." Lily nodded again, chewing on her lip slightly. They do seem close, which was both surprising and worrying. Charlotte doesn't know potter or black half as well as lily does, if she did, she certainly wouldn't be costing up to them. They were right bastards. Prats who put themselves on pedestals and claimed they were better than all. Lily... What are you doing?'

She'd already began walking away mid thought, and was only a few steps from Charlotte's back. "Collecting information," she muttered to herself.

 **(-Charlotte-)**

She wasn't staring, not really.

She was observing on a critical level. Charlotte was, after all, not ashamed of her observational skills. When your alone for as long as she has been, you tend to turn to quietly observing others for entertainment.

She took note of the small part of his mouth that would edge up before he said something he likely thought was funny. The way his hair fell in obnoxious waves down his face across his eyes. How much brighter his eyes appeared to be when his pupils dilated. He actually had fairly long lashes for a boy, could almost call them pretty. He had high cheekbones, definitely defined. Could cut mangos root with those cheekbones, she mused when his smile turned them sharp.

Ah, can't be forgetting the dreaded dimples. One would generally assimilate dimples with cuteness, but there was definitely nothing 'cute' about those two little dents in his cheeks. They somehow had the ability to pull someone closer, pull someone in like a swift accio. His crinkled eyes and slightly crooked teeth making him seem charming, even if he was smiling with mirth.

James had to bring her attention back onto his words several times, before she actually stopped stari-observing, and paid attention. He was none the wiser, continuing to tell her about the time he bought a something or rather instead of a simple something potion. She hadn't really been listening all too well.

Suddenly he stopped talking and looked wide eyed at Charlotte, ran his hand through his hair and cleared his throat awkwardly, nodding his head in her direction. Oblivious to whatever sloppy message he was attempting to give, she asked several times 'What?', until the message itself appeared behind her.

"Charlotte." Charlotte closed her eyes and sighed deeply.

All anger, frustration and disappointment from their earlier argument was at the furthest corner of her mind. Honestly she didn't want to fight with lily. It had been a relatively good night, couldn't it stay that way?

Charlotte turned and planted on an honest smile, which she could tell Lily criticised instantly. She was likely wondering if Charlotte was being sincere. It was those kind of looks that made Charlotte genuinely want to throttle her sister.

"Hello Lily, having a good time?" She asked as sweetly as possible, through gritted teeth.

"It's been alright, you missed Blacks new rendition of a Beatles song, the only way it could be worse is if he had been sober when singing…" Charlotte knew she hadn't meant the comment to be funny, rather offensive, but she managed to smile and snort anyway. She inclined her head and saw potter was hiding his smile as well. "I didn't realise your friends with Potter.' She accused, nudging her head in his direction. Charlotte lifted a brow and looked in his direction.

Charlotte was surprised to find him simply standing there, watching the interaction with a calm expression. Was he actually trying Charlotte thought with a frown. Part of her was impressed to see him acting so mature. But it honestly made her feel rather worried. He looked… Well, weird. He was just standing there. He had no dimples, there were no crinkles around his eyes, he seemed so cold.

He had a smile on his face, but it was one that seemed practised. Something you present to those who you're trying to hide from, which in reality is the opposite of what he's attempting to do with her sister.

Before she made any more judgements, she reminded herself that she hadn't really known him long enough to decide on his mannerisms and what they meant. Instead, she focused her attention back on Lily, who seemed to be looking at him with confusion and weariness. At least Charlotte knew she wasn't the only one who saw how differently he was acting.

"Oh, well it's only recently," Charlotte said with a small smile turning to face James again, relieved when he met her eyes, and met her smile with one of his own. It wasn't the smile she'd become accustomed to seeing, but it was a smile none the less. "I'm not overly certain I could call us friends, more like begrudging acquaintances or even reluctant strangers?"

Charlotte felt her smile widen as he dramatically clutched his chest. He made a few gasping sounds and groans of agony, effectively attaining the attention of others around them. Charlotte didn't even bother to turn her attention to Lily to know she would be unimpressed with the show of 'immaturity'.

Charlotte stood there, holding in her laughter, as he fell to his knees and clutched the ground for dear life. He shook a fist in the air and became still, stuck in a crouched position as those around laughed loudly. Like Charlottes hair, which she had so proudly managed to keep in order at the start of the night which only ended in a mound of knots and curly hair, James' hair was no longer cleanly waxed and curled. His hair sat in a mess of chocolate brown, thick tumbles of hair, half in his face, and hair sticking in every possible direction imaginable.

However, a hand flew through his hair, pulling the strands back and putting it in a sort of order. Bits still fell to his forehead as he stood up, a wide smile on his face, but it was hardly as messy as it had been.

He looked at her, raising his eyebrows as though to say 'well?', and the only thing Charlotte could manage in return was an eye roll, a smile gracing her lips without permission. She ignored his chuckles and turned to Lily, unsurprised to find her scowling and shaking her head.

"I thought…." James declared with a wide smile, shoving Charlotte's shoulder with his hand. "That I already told you we're friends whether you like it or not!" Charlotte struggled not to shove his hand away at his obviously friendly gesture. So unused to physical affection between friends, it wasn't surprising that she found the action not only odd but unwanted. She knew he meant nothing by it though, and let his hand fall away without retaliation.

"Please." Charlotte scoffed with an eyeroll, smirking when he gave his sad look that managed to make him look like a puppy. She was about to comment on it, when Lily decided to join the conversation.

"Trying to seduce my sister as well potter?' Lily bit in, with malice that even Charlotte was surprised at. She watched as Lily looked him over with a sudden dark anger and shook her head. "That's low, even for you."

Charlotte watched, with an open frown as that small light she managed to brighten in James' eyes faded, and his dimples were suddenly gone. She had to hand it to him, he was still smiling. If it were she in his position, she couldn't be so sure she could do the same.

"You should know by now, that I only have eyes for you Lily," he said, winking at her. "Your sister has decided to warm up to me, I don't see why you can't. How does a drink at the three broomsticks sound?"

Charlotte winced and gave James an exasperated look. Had they not just decided he would stop asking her out?

"Come on," he goaded, smiling widely. "If Lottie likes me, then how bad can I really be? Don't you trust your sister's choice of friends?"

"I know you can't possibly understand the complexities that are obtained from having siblings potter, so I'll give you a small understanding," Lily snapped out of nowhere, both Charlotte and James flinching in unison. "Charlotte is my younger sister, I look out for her, especially when she makes mistakes. She seems to have somehow, unfortunately, stumbled into a friendship with you and black. Of all the people in Hogwarts she managed to befriend the two village idiots with enough brains to match a troll. I know you think your both kings of the school, so you prance around like everyone is beneath you, but I can assure you, you are the most ill fitted, immature, arrogant, egotistic foul got that I've had the displeasure of meeting. You've managed to turn away my best friend, dump who knows how many dung bombs into my bed, stolen my homework, objectified me in every situation possible whilst asking me out several times a day. That's not all, you've managed to bully young kids, belittle those around you whilst you held your pure blooded snotty nose in the air. Don't think I haven't noticed potter, that you bully a fair few more muggleborns than your own kind.. I don't know how Remus can stand it being around such a-"

"LILY!" Charlotte boomed, her hands tightened into vices as she stared down her oblivious twin. What was she thinking?

"In fact, I don't know how you have any friends at all. You are the most stupid, irresponsible and selfish person I've ever met. When will you get it into your thick skull that ' .you!"

When Lily was finally done, she took a step back, her chest rising and falling fast, and her eyes wide as she watched the result of her words. If Lily's intended result had been to drag James' feelings through the dirt, she was definitely on the right path.

"Lily…" Charlotte muttered in shock, watching as James stumbled slightly where he stood, as though shot by a hex.

She'd heard hundreds of times, the insults Lily would fling his way, and the rather witty responses that James always had afterwards. There was no response this time, because Lily had never been so cruel about it.

Charlotte watched, her mouth still caught open in shock of the words spoken with such derision, as James' eyes began moving around the room, flickering to this and that, then back towards Lily. He looked as though he was physically in pain as he mulled over her words, digesting her meanings and pulling apart the metaphors.

Charlotte's accusing eyes met Lily's in an open glare, and she was quietly happy to see a flicker of guilt in Lily's eyes, a small furrow in her brow and an angle of her mouth that couldn't quite act as neutral as she hoped.

The only way, Charlotte thought, that Lily could speak with such hatred, is if she had already been thinking negatively of James when she walked over and Charlotte couldn't fathom what James could have done tonight to deserve such harsh words from her sister.

Her stomach twisted uncomfortably as his eyes met her's, which managed to contradict the small smile on his lips. "Charlotte, always a pleasure." He inclined his head slightly, in the form of a bow and walked away from the both of them, his smile dropping almost instantly.

She didn't miss how his eyes flickered to Lily's for a moment before they fell and became clouded.

"What the hell was that!" Charlotte hissed at Lily once he was far enough away, her eyes never left his retreating form. She latched onto Lily's arm when she realised that her sister's eyes were also caught on the retreating form of James. "Lily that was beyond rude, why did you attack him like that!"

"I don't know okay!" Lily snapped back, wrenching her arm away. Charlotte watched, calm as she could manage, as Lily bit her lip, her face caught in the image of a wince that wouldn't fade. "I just snapped."

"Well that was clear," Charlotte retorted with a roll of her dark eyes. "What I want to know, is why?"

When lily failed to say anything, Charlotte asked again, her voice louder and easily heard over the music. "Why Lily!"

"He annoys me Charlotte!" Charlotte raised a brow, and Lily puffed out an annoyed breath. Their eyes met, and Charlotte watched as her forest green eyes grew wide with a sort of hysteria as she grabbed at her hair, shaking her head. Charlotte had never seen Lily so anxious, frustrated and out of control. It was actually really bloody scary. "He is smart, ridiculously so, yet he doesn't do homework. He has brilliant friends, not including black of course, and half the time he doesn't deserve them. The teachers love him, but he constantly pulls pranks on all of them. He's a fantastic flyer, but boasts about it to everyone yet STILL is complimented about . He's got a following and is practically the most popular person in school yet bullies the younger kids! I don't understand!"

If Lily tugged her hair any harder, Charlotte truly feared that all her precious red hair she took so much time and care with would be ripped out from the root. Lily was acting balmy, and talking at nimbus speed. Charlotte was still comprehending her words when she shot off again, faster than before.

"He's an asshole one second, doing Godric knows what to people, and pranking everyone he bloody can without a care in the world. Charlotte you've SEEN what he's done to Severus. He's a prat. But then he has moments where he's kind, he's defensive for his friends, and respectful to those who deserve it. He's loyal, and observant. So somehow, somehow people manage to look over all his bad faults and like him for his good ones, even though, from my perspective, his negative attributes are far higher than the positive!"

Charlotte blinked her eyes a few times, determining the cause of Lily's frustration, but not making any sense of it. Is it possibly that Lily could... By some chance... Impossibly...

"You're...jealous of him?" Charlotte could taste the confusion in her mouth as she sounded out the odd words.

"Of course not!" Lily said with a huff, hugging her arms to her sides even as she was still heaving from her rant. Charlotte could see the red in her face and recognised her embarrassment instantly.

"I am genuinely... Speechless," Charlotte said with a laugh. Of all the reasons Lily had to hate James, she never once considered it to be jealousy. It never made sense.

The way she carried on like he was a massive burden on her shoulder. All the points she had taken off him since she was chosen as prefect. Her harsh words and her clear distaste for him had never seemed so... Ridiculous.

It made perfect sense now, of course. Everything she had said about James was true. He was brilliant, teachers loved him as well as everyone in Hogwarts ( with the exception of Severus ), he didn't really have to try to get above average marks, and was naturally a brilliant flyer. Lily was smart, but she had been studying from the moment she came to Hogwarts to be that way, as long as she was top of her class, teachers loved her and everyone either thought lily was; the prettiest girl at Hogwarts, a teacher's pet or stuck up. Lily was also a terrible flyer. Truly horrible.

The thought that all this time, she had hated the boy for petty jealousy, wasn't all that surprising for Charlotte. She had, after all, managed to do a bang up job of being jealous of Lily for as many years as she can remember, and that alone has caused a rift between the two that, no matter how hard she tried fix, always managed to creep on back.

"I can assure you Charlotte," Lily spoke with a scoff and a flick of her hair, which didn't look at all out of place even with its owner's abuse. Lily would have to be more convincing than that to get Charlotte to believe her. A good start would be to not blush so fiercely. "I am not jealous of Potter. I don't like him, I never have and I never will. My dislike borders on hatred Charlotte, hatred."

"Alright, alright," Charlotte conceded with her hands raised. "I'll believe you for now. However, none of what you said justifies what you said to him."

Charlotte stood, biting her lip, as she watched her sister turn red and frown at her younger twins scolding. She scoffed, shook her head and scoffed again. This repeated enough times until Charlotte realised she was having a conversation with herself, and decided retreating would be best.

"I'm going to go see if I can get him out of the bout of depression you, no doubt, put him in. We will talk about this later, okay?" Charlotte said with a sigh and small smile, that was barely present on her lips. She saw Lily nod distractedly so she stepped away.

Charlotte looked around, unsurprised to find the James and Sirius surrounded by a large group of their peers. They seemed to be very interested in whatever Sirius had to say, and she could only imagine what he was talking about, in his drunk state, that would hold their interests so keenly.

She took a step forward and found herself stumbling. Damn heels, she muttered, fighting the exhaustion that weighed her down. Her legs felt like jelly and her head was heavy on her shoulders but light in the air.

Giving a swift shake of her head, she focused on Sirius and James and took a few steps forward. When everything seemed okay, she began walking her normal pace. James looked over just as she was halfway across the room, and gave her a sad smile and small shrug, as though to say I tried. Charlotte attempted to reciprocate his smile, but felt her expression drop. Her breath was sucked out of her as an excruciating pain stabbed the front of her skull and she felt a tugging sensation deep within her.

What the hell! Charlotte clutched tightly to her head, feeling her legs buckle beneath her. It felt as though something was trying to escape her very brain and rip it's way into the room. With increased panic, she recognised the feeling as a more intense episode of that afternoon. Before she had felt light headed and a probing headache.

The room was spinning, all voices and music playing piercing her ears and the enchanted balls of light flying around the room seared her vision. With a gasp she looked forward, seeing James run forward in alarm.

She thought he may have called her name out as he pushed his way through. He faded into darkness as her eyes rolled back in her head and she fell to the ground with a resounding thud that had the whole room called to her attention in a single moment.

Though she didn't know it, those she now considered as friends, were at her side before she even landed on the ground. She didn't know, but each of them was filled with fear. Fear for someone they cared about. Fear for someone they saw. Fear for someone who wasn't invisible.

 **(-Lily-)**

The room was suddenly silent, and it brought Lily out of her deep thoughts. Even as Lily's eyes searched the room for the cause of sudden silence, her mind was still on the impossible, inconceivable, incomprehensible idea that she was, she could barely think the word out, jealous, of Potter. She had to hold the effort, to gag, back.

Jealous of James idiotic Potter. What a stupid idea. Her mind was trapped on the idea that everything that had gone wrong so far, that night, was of Charlotte's doing. Lily came out in a sour mood, because of Charlotte. They had that ridiculously public fight, because of Charlotte. She'd blasted her mouth off at Potter, because of Charlotte. And now the girl's gone and put a stupid idea in her head that simply wouldn't leave.

Charlotte complains constantly that it is always Lily who is the cause of fights and general problems in her life (that truly have nothing to do with Lily), and never has she been so wrong.

Lily pivoted on her feet to watch as Charlotte walked, or more like stumbled, away from her.

"Likely drunk," she muttered to herself, her brows cinched tight together. As her arms crossed themselves and rested on her stomach, she couldn't help but glare at the back of her sisters head.

Things had never been 'fine' between them, but since she became friends with those idiots, it's been one bomb to the next. Explosions of pent up emotions and all sorts of feelings that should really just be kept inside.

For Godric's sake, their end of years are only weeks off, and instead of studying each night, Lily has been out searching for her sister when she's discovered that Charlotte's disappeared from the dorm. Lily couldn't fathom what her idiot of a twin could possibly be doing so late at night that she still wouldn't be in bed after prefect rounds. She's quite lucky that Lily hasn't already reported her. If she did find out that Charlotte was out galavanting with potter

It's this sort of recklessness that Lily couldn't stand. How could it be possible that her only other magical ailing, her TWIN none the less, couldn't be more different from her. The more she glared at her annoyingly knotty hair, the more her bad attributes seem to roll through her thoughts like the Hogwarts steam train.

She couldn't help but think of all the times they fought, all the blame she put on Lily, the hateful words and the harsh stares. All the times she would get angry at their parents, simply because of their failing memory, or stay I her room all day sulking because lily had a friend over. She couldn't help but think that Charlotte was the most frustrating, broody, Selfish, brattish, Rude and spiteful-

Lily's thoughts, which were already so dark, halted at the sight of Charlotte falling forwards. Thinking she had tripped, she managed a half eye roll and lightly jogged over to help her up. Just because she was beyond angry at her sister, doesn't mean she wouldn't help her when she needed it, though her continuous clumsiness did hold her back from reaching her in record speed. Then her eyes adjusted. She'd fallen forward and landed with a thud, her eyes already closed before she even hit the wooden floor.

The common room was quiet and Charlotte didn't move as Potter and Black ran to her side, panicked murmurs sounding from around them.

"Bloody hell what happened!" Lily cried, falling to her side and holding both of her cheeks, noting silently that they were deathly pale and lacked any usual warmth. Her breath sucked in, and she looked up towards Potter and Black, awaiting an answer, glaring at Black's hand which was currently reading on Charlotte's neck.

"I don't know, I don't... She just fainted!" Lily looked up and glared at Black, who dared have the audacity to appear worried over Charlotte. She didn't know yet, what game they were playing with her, but she just hoped she would find out before they damaged her for good. She'd seen those blasted marauders turn her best friend into a monster from their relentless attacks. She couldn't dare imagine what they were using Charlotte for.

He seemed to get the idea, as he let go of Charlotte's neck and sat back, though that still shocked expression never changed.

"Everyone back up!" Potter said loudly with a surprisingly serious voice. His face was hard and held no question of doubt. He was far more convincing that he cared for Charlotte. Though Lily still didn't dare believe. In accordance to his order, their peers backed away, though Black, Alice she and Potter stayed by her side. "Sirius help me take her to the-" Potter said, nodding towards her still form on the ground. His arm moved behind her neck, as though he was preparing to pick her up, but was halted when Charlotte moved.

Wearily, her lids opened and blinked a few times, before focusing on the faces around her. Lily had to admit, her sister looked terrible. Her makeup was smudged, her hair in a dreadful mess, and her olive skin was as white as lilies own. She didn't look like Charlotte at all. Though, now that she was frowning, her brow stuck in a firm line, she was still noticeably her own.

She pushed Potters arms away as though they burned her, and knowing Charlotte's indifference to physical affection, it likely did. Potter retreated his arms, but still remained crouched at her side, with a hand hovering behind her back. Lily wasn't actually sure he did it consciously, it just seemed to be there at the ready.

"I'm fine,"Charlotte muttered, sitting up from the ground and rubbing her forehead "Sorry I just felt a little dizzy." Lily could tell instantly that it was a lie, but had she been in the same position, with these two idiots hovering over her, she would lie too.

"Charlotte, love are you alright?" Lily frowned as Black crouched at Potters side, looking over Charlotte with all the care of a dear friend.

"Yeah I'm okay." Charlotte bit out, clearly annoyed at the continuous attention. Lily dared to think that this is exactly what charlotte had wanted in the first place. Hadn't she always said that no one ever noticed her?

Potter and Black began fussing over her, disregarding her pleas for them to desist and arguing the best way to get her out of the common room. Completely fed up, lily watched as Charlotte yelled at the both of them. "Calm the hell down i'm okay!"

"We are taking you to the hospital wing immediately." Lily couldn't help the eyeroll that forced its way on her dainty face. So typical of Potter, taking charge and doing whatever the hell he wants with no thought to the other person.

Charlotte met her eye for a moment and for a split second, Lily could have sworn that they were thinking the same thing. Charlotte and lily couldn't look anymore different if they tried, but amazingly, they seemed to have almost perfect replications of an exasperated expression. Lily almost smiled, and she saw that the corner of Charlotte's mouth was turned up, a confirmation that their thoughts were similar.

"Potter, relax. I haven't slept in days, I'm just tired," Charlotte said with a sigh, fully sitting up and running her hand down her face in clear exhaustion.

"Well maybe if you got your head out of that bloody book you always carry around then you'd be okay," Lily said suddenly, noting the dark bags under her eyes and lack of hygiene that was evident in her dirty hair and funny smell. Charlotte wasn't as meticulous about appearance and personal hygiene as lily was, but she certainly wasn't a slob either. "you've obviously exerted yourself too much."

It was true. Charlotte thought lily hadn't noticed that her studies had been lacking, she'd gotten less sleep each consecutive night, and carried that old brown book around like a muggle bible. She was hardly inconspicuous about it, and lily was sure there was only so many pepper up potions you could take in a day before it started having an odd effect on you.

"Lily, scold me later, I'm too tired for this," Charlotte muttered, running a languid hand down her face.

"My god Charlotte, are you alright?" A voice broke through the crowd. Quite literally too, as he had to pull people out of the way. His and Lily's eyes met for a moment, and she couldn't help but give him a small smile. Lily would never doubt Remus' intentions. He was as good as anyone, and just as smart.

Why couldn't Charlotte be friends with Remus?

"Yeah i'm alright, sorry Remus, not exactly the best entertainment," Charlotte said with a nervous laugh, brushing her skirt down. Lily had the feeling that, had Charlotte been standing, she'd probably be scuffing the toes of her shoes on the ground. "I'm going to go to the dorms, thanks for everyone's help and concern. Thank you for the party Remus, I had lots of fun."

"Charlotte I-" Potter started with a frown. Lily went to step forward and scold the Gryffindor idiot for even trying to get Charlotte to do anything against her will, but Charlotte surprised her greatly when she simply gave him a crooked smile.

"Thankyou for tonight, I'll see you tomorrow in class hmm?" She said quickly, a pleading look in her dark sapphire eyes.

"Yeah alright." He nodded and Lily watched in surprised as she smiled at him, and he at her.

Lily stood in silent shock , millions of thoughts running through her mind, though only one managing to stick long enough for it to become conscious. Why. Charlotte knew, quite possibly better than anyone, the crap Potter had pulled in the last two years, making Lily's life seemingly impossible. His attempts were relentless and wholly unwanted, though she supposed she could look over it, if not for her already negative opinion of him.

Charlotte was there, the days that Severus had come to lily, asking, quite abashed and embarrassed, for a counter-curse to whatever thoughtless prank had been played on him. She'd been there when Lily cleaned up a wound on his leg that he'd managed to obtain whilst tripping over running (he'd been too embarrassed to go to the hospital wing) and charlotte had been present for every rant Lily, quite guiltily, let out on a regular basis.

So why him. Of all the people in Hogwarts, why could she only manage to make friends with the two people that Lily would be opposed to. A twisting feeling appeared in her stomach, and it felt like rage, but tasted like something different. She'd felt it before earlier that day, and it was not a feeling she wanted to become accustomed to.

Lily's eyes settled back on Charlotte, knowing that this feeling that was a direct result of her twin. Charlotte seemed to stir where she sat, and Lily stepped forward, but Charlotte's hand came out to stop her movements. Fine,she almost said with a scoff. Couldn't she see Lily was trying to care for her, even when she was still so clearly annoyed ?

"Help me up?"Charlotte asked. Lily, of course obliged her sisters wish and stepped forward, but was halted as potters hands grasped Charlotte's forearms and he slowly lifted her up, supporting her back with one hand when she finally stood, all the while a serious expression taking over his face and demeanour.

"You sure you don't want to go to the hospital wing?"

"Very sure, night guys," Charlotte said with a weary laugh. Lily's eyes followed Charlotte's form until she was up the stairs, and gone from sight.

If there was one positive thing about Charlotte's little fall, it would be that all the lingering anger that had been flowing through her moments ago, was completely disappeared. She felt far lighter, and she couldn't really remember why she had even gotten angry in the first place…

"It's been an odd few days," Lily muttered, making her way over to Alice who was watching the stairs with a concerned frown on her face.

 **(-Charlotte-)**

Charlotte couldn't imagine a possible situation that could make this night any more ridiculous. How could so much excitement have occurred in a few hours. Just the thought of these past few days made her want to pull her doona over her head and pretend it was nothing more than a dream.

Charlotte never fainted. Never in her life had she ever had any sort of whimsical sense of lightheadedness which resulted in her incapacitation on the floor. For some reason, that night, she acted like a bloody ridiculous damsel in distress and cascaded to the floor like a leaf. And of course James and Sirius had to be around to see her do it.

Just because she cared less of what others thought about her, didn't mean she could act like a tootsie blonde idiot and feel righteous about it. She wasn't one of those bloody fangirls that hovered around those boys like a fly out in heat. She was shuddering merely at the thought that anyone could believe that.

Whilst Charlotte showered and got dressed earlier, her mind had been practically clear of any thoughts, on purpose of course, lest they drift onto topics that she'd rather not think about. For one, she now admits that James is her friend, a new experience in of itself. It was equally daunting and exciting, and she had the surreal feeling that she'd either regret her openness with the hazel eyed chaser, or decide it was the best thing she ever did.

She was also horribly aware that there was a small moment, when he smiled at her earlier, that she'd stopped breathing. An uncomfortable feeling, to be sure, but it pointed to something she didn't want to name at all. Lately she'd been having far too many uncomfortable feelings around James, and if she truly wanted to give this 'friendship thing' a shot, all of that rubbish would have to leave immediately.

Her head was pounding as a result from her fall, and she really couldn't stay up a moment longer. In the last few moments of consciousness she managed to remember all the unfinished work she had a feeling is due tomorrow. Potions, herbology and defence against the dark arts all had essays that were due sometime. She decided to add it to the list of things she was seriously behind on.

Before she drifted off into a night of restless sleep, only to awaken still exhausted with the same pounding headache, she groaned and hit her pillow a few times, stopping when she thought her arms might fail her. When had life become so exhaustingly, painfully complicated? She'd bet a galleon that none of this nonsense would have happened had her and James not made that deal. If she stacked up all the ridiculous things that have happened in the past few days as a result of their deal, she was almost certain that it far outweighed the positives. Though… a week ago had she of fallen, no one would have come to her aid. No one would have demanded she go to the Hospital wing, and no one would have helped her up.

"Now that i think of it," Charlotte muttered, opening her eyes and frowning at her bed sheets. Why had she fallen at all? Charlotte wasn't accustomed to bouts of dizziness, so it didn't make sense. She was tired, but not sleep deprived. She always had at least 4 cinnamon scrolls in a day between meals, and though she didn't exactly 'exercise' she wasn't frail. Just as it happened earlier that day, she felt like she was being sucked out of her body. It was beyond disturbing, the feeling that someone was tugging a piece of you. Like your soul was being tugged and stretched.

Charlotte was obviously more tired than she'd originally thought, as she's never been so oddly dramatic.

She didn't hear Lily come in that night, though she did wake before her sister. There were no lingering feelings of sickness of any sign that she was tired at all. Though a headache miraculously appeared when she realised how much work she'd have to scram to complete before breakfast.

. **A/N**.

Hello everyone !

Update finally ! Sorry to keep everyone waiting, especially considering I left it at a weird pace. IM FINALLY DONE THE SLOW PART OF THE STORY!

The next few chapters will all be less than 5,000 and will be every few days. As it goes on more and more time will skip (thank god).

Soooo, Lily chapter ! It took me sooooo long to write this (obviously) because I wanted to give her the personality I've been attempting to develop, but turn it around a little, so your all a little more empathetic towards her.

So I'm pretty sure it's obvious Charlotte has a little crush on James now ? she was so checkin him out.

Not much of anyone else other than lily Charlotte and James. Little bit of Alice considering she is going to be a recurring character. I genuinely have no idea what Alice is meant to look or act like so I 100% AU'ed her ? ﾟﾘﾂ

I hope Lily's little 'snap' at James wasn't too much too soon. Considering things are going to progress faster, I felt like lily should lay her cards on the table (that bitch).

So yeah, lily blames James and Sirius for turning Severus all dark, She's also mega wary of charlottes friendship with James.

Did I make people more suspicious about lily when Charlotte passed out ?! Let the suspicion fester good people ! Let it fester!

Next chapter is James and Charlottes animagus lesson. My writing is a lot less detailed, mainly because I don't feel like I need to build the character of James and Charlotte as much as I did in previous chapters.

Hope you al enjoyed it ! Review/like/follow this story so i keep uploading !

P.s I started this chapter in July ? ﾟﾘﾂ?

Xxxxx


	15. Chapter 15

" _ **Don't walk in front of me… I may not follow**_

 _ **Don't walk behind me… I may not lead**_

 _ **Walk beside me… just be my friend"**_

― _**Albert Camus**_

 **Chapter 15.**

* * *

 **(~Charlotte~)**

 _Don't laugh. Don't laugh,_ Charlotte chimed in her mind over and over as she sat with a look of complete indifference. She mightn't look like it, but she was very much on the edge of explosion. The kind of explosion which resulted in the laughter she'd only ever heard out of Sirius and she had a feeling that a certain someone wouldn't appreciate her loud outbreak. She, however, truly feared she couldn't hold it in any longer. Already, she was blocking her nose and impractically hadn't taken a breath for several minutes, for fear that instantly she would burst at the seams.

Charlotte didn't know exactly what she had been thinking when James had brought her to the abandoned classroom. It was something along the lines of , ' _what is this baboon thinking.'_ She, however, didn't expect him to take on the role of her teacher. Sure he was 'teaching' her, but she certainly hadn't expected him to go all out. Logically, she should have known he'd do and act like this.

Using his wand, he scribbled fragmented notes all along the board at the front, using a charm of some sort that she hadn't even seen _lily_ use. For no other reason, other than his incessant need to be ridiculous, he chose to dress up for the occasion, and had appeared in the common room as they had planned, wearing a long dark cloak, that wasn't of Hogwarts uniform, and floppy hat of some sort that she'd sworn she'd seen Professor Slughorn wear at one point. He refused to divulge where exactly he got the ridiculous hat, that was more a night cap than anything.

Of course, her instant reaction was the simple question, " _what's wrong with you,",_ which technically wasn't a question, as she certainly didn't expect an answer. He simply replied " _got no idea what you're talking about,_ " before leading her out of the common room, his billowing cape dancing behind him. She'd mused that he was lucky there hadn't been students in the common room at the time, as she'd bet anything that he would be humiliated.

He had been dropping hints to her several times during the day where she _unfortunately_ ran into him. She had been eating breakfast, quite enjoying her solitude, when it seemed, out of nowhere he sat across from her, declaring with a wide smile that she should, 'think of happy thoughts'. Then at lunch he felt it necessary to share that she was looking rather depressed. 'Don't let the dementors get you down', had been his passing comment before he grinned and left the table almost as soon as he'd come.

He'd made his way over to Charlotte and Lily during dinner, but Charlotte simply fixed him with a hard stare, mouthed _No_ , and he cautiously walked away.

She and lily weren't yet on good terms, but Lily decided she needed to study, and Charlotte couldn't have agreed more. They disregarded their friends for the evening in favour of tea, light food and books piled on either side of them. Not a word was shared, not even as they left the hall and retreated to their rooms.

"Patronus charm!" Potter declared using a voice that clearly wasn't his own, and his wand to point at the heading on the board. Okay, Charlotte couldn't hold in the snort of laughter that escaped then. Perhaps if he wasn't acting like such a wacky idiot, she would take him seriously, something she desperately wanted to do at the time. She'd been reading, or attempting to read, the animagus book every spare second she got, ignoring the scowl of disapproval from Lily, though Charlotte was certain her twin was still oblivious to their plight. This was James potter however, and everything he did was dramatic and ridiculous.

''The Patronus Charm (Expecto Patronum) is the most famous and one of the most powerful defensive charms known to wizardkind. It's an immensely complicated, very difficult spell that evokes a partially-tangible positive energy force known as a Patronus. Patronuses or Patroni, if you want to be fancy about it, are considered primary protection against Dementors and Lethifolds, against which there is no other protection."

Charlotte rolled her eyes as he spoke, her eyes trailing his movements as he pointed to this and that, though not really taking anything in. She rubbed her forehead, easing out a knot which had managed to stay throughout all their classes.

Charlotte already knew all he was talking about. She had told him she couldn't cast a patronus, she didn't however declare that she was an _idiot_. Every bloody 3rd year knew what the spell was. Not a single one of them could obviously cast it, it was bloody complicated. None the less, this spell had been drilled into them during dada almost every year since then. Honestly it was just insulting Charlotte's intelligence.

"Why thank you for that, I do believe we already learnt about that in t-" Charlotte started, stopping when potter raised his brows and continued talking over her.

" _AS_ I was saying. To successfully cast the spell, one must muster the happiest memory you can think of. The stronger and more powerful, the greater effect it can have. A successfully conjured Patronus can take two forms: non-corporeal or corporeal, and both types vary greatly in their appearances and strength."

"Seriously Potter,"Charlotte said with a sigh, lifting her feet onto the desk in front of her. 'we're here only for a few hours, I honestly don't need you telling me about this. I have plenty of work I can catch up on." She may or may not have purposely called him Potter, hoping to get a rise out of him. _Clearly_ it didn't work.

"Just give me a minute Charlotte, I have a point to all this." Charlotte watched in frustration as James' face morphed slowly into a sad frown. A look that she named the 'puppy dog look' was probably the most effective look in convincing anyone to do anything. A horrific thought occurred to her then…If Lily managed to perfect this look, she might single handedly rule the world.

Perhaps she was exaggerating a bit, but she was rather bored

"Incorporeal are not full-fledged, corporeal are. Corporeal takes the form of an animal guardian which reflect the wizard or witches personality." James pointed to the notes on the board respectively, and turned to Charlotte.

"Well," Charlotte declared loudly, once she realised he'd stopped his nonsensical drama. She let her legs drop off the table, and stood brusquely, swinging her bag over her shoulder in one swift practised move. She went to make her way towards the door, but was stopped as James stood in front of her, both of his hands out to halt her, with a look of complete confusion caught on his face.

"Woah, where are you going?" Charlotte sighed, took a breathe and met his eyes.

"Your wasting my time," she said with a grim shrug. Her eyes followed his, which seemed to become bothered. "I'm appreciative of your attempts at helping me…." she said slowly, carefully thinking over her words, something she didn't often do. He seemed genuinely upset that she was going to leave, and it made her want to explain this to him a little more gently. "I'm not interested in patronus study, and if that's all you've come to prepare for me, then i'm out of here."

She'd expected him to try and convince her to stay, but he just watched her with that same expression. She sighed again and turned, with every intention of leaving the room.

"Patronus is your guardian reflecting your personality." Charlotte turned, raising a brow at the serious expression which hadn't been there a moment ago. it gave her a matter of assurance to know he realised how serious about this she was, and that he should attempt to reflect the same feelings if he ever had the chance of helping her. She retreated from the door a few steps, crossing her arms and nodding her head in a silent acceptance. "Animagi is a full bodied transfiguration into an animal which best represents your magical core... Your soul." He said with a sigh, though explaining something for the fortieth time, which had Charlotte frowning. "Well you certainly can't achieve animagi form without producing a corporeal patronus, they go hand in hand."

His expression turned comical, and Charlotte's eyes hardened.

"Ummm. You did?" Charlotte bit back, confused at what point he was trying to make.

"I had almost 3 years to study animagus," he said with a nonchalant shrug, resting on the table once more. "We're trying to achieve this before graduation right? Well trust me when I say this will be beneficial."

Charlotte hadn't even considered how long it may take to learn how to become an animagus. Surely he was joking when he said 3 years...

"Ugh," Charlotte groaned, throwing her bag back onto the ground where it was when she'd entered the room. She ignored the triumphant smile on James face as she pulled out her wand and looked at the lacquered wood. "I believe you I just don't like being so magically deficient. It's embarrassing," She admitted, keeping her frustration solely on the wand in her hand.

"Don't feel embarrassed, it didn't take me five minutes to make a corporeal either," he said, a soft smile on his face, pushing back some of his hair.

"Rather 10?" Charlotte muttered sarcastically, purposely loud enough so the _oaf_ would hear her clearly.

"Okay, come on. Off your ass," He said with a laugh, indicating with his wand for her to get off the table. He removed the ridiculous hat and robe, tossing it to the side, leaving his dark grey slacks, white shirt and gryffindor tie, (the latter seemingly not wanting to stay in place as it hung, half tied, down his chest). Charlotte herself was still in her long skirt, shirt, blazer and tie, completely covered by her long robes, though it sat a little more sharply, as was its purpose.

"You sure know how to charm a woman," Charlotte grumbled, pulling her robes off and stepping down from the section of tables and chairs towards James. The room was set out so that there was a space around 20ft without any furniture, likely for charm or spell work practise. It made it a perfect room to attempt any magic.

"Charlotte, my dear," James said, grinning widely. "if I was trying to charm you, you would be a puddled mess on the floor, not haughty and sulky." He winked at the offended look on Charlotte's face, and tucked his wand into his waistband.

"I'm not sulky!" Charlotte snapped, pretending it was the only thing that really bothered her in what he'd said. "I do believe you overestimate your charm on women," Charlotte muttered, pulling out her wand and glaring at him.

"Show me your patronus," He urged with a nod of his head towards the sparse room, the corner of his mouth still upturned in amusement.

A deep sigh and a few grumbled swear words later, and Charlotte had her wand out at the ready. The key to a patronus, was a happy memory. Charlotte was hardly morbid enough to say she hadn't had any happy memories, after all, she had a very happy comfortable childhood. Unfortunately she couldn't find many afterwards, which meant her selection of memories were distant and foggy. Many of which were not up to par with such a powerful spell.

"Expecto patronum!" Charlotte said loudly, waving her wand in a circle a few times, as per previously instructed. Her brows were furrowed and she bit her lip in concentration, all the while hoping her stupid wand would do what she was asking. It shouldn't be hard really. She was a bright witch and should be able to match her fellow peers in the task. Hell, if Lily could do it, why the hell couldn't she!

She focused on the image of the first time their parents took their three daughters to the theatre and the excitement that had poured from her.

She felt a whirl in her belly and a gush of wind. Her eyes lit up hopefully as a light emerged from the tip of her ebony coloured wand. For a few moments her wand lit up and finally something came out.

Charlotte felt like throwing her wand on the floor at the pathetic smoke that came from her wand. Unlike the pure white that others had experienced, shortly followed my a majestic animal that would dance around them in glee, her attempt only created a dull, off white smoke that was more grey than anything. The smoke only last for a second or two before it disappeared.

It wasn't likely to ward of _anything_ much less a dementors which had the ability to _literally_ suck out your soul.

"'It's not _terrible_." Charlotte's dark eyes flickered to glare at _potter_ , even if he said gently. He'd no doubt noticed the twitch in Charlotte's hand as she furiously stared at the stick in her hand. That's truly what she felt it was at the moment, a plain old _stick_. Her wand had disappointed her more and more the past few months, and if she had the money to buy a new one, and knew where its loyalties would lie, she would probably snap the one she held within her hand in half, tossing it in the black lake like it was nothing.

Perhaps it was that sort of thinking that made her useless wand as impertinent as it was now. Though she didn't feel like that was excuse enough.

Almost everyone had managed to perfect their corporeal patrons, most halfway to completing incorporeal. It was plain _embarrassing_ , that Charlotte couldn't do either, and she'd taken to practising other spells during class instead (which never really ended up with any better result).

"Not terrible," Charlotte said monotonously, holding up the stick firmly wrapped in her hands. "I got a bloody puff of smoke. No shield, no magical animal. Smoke."Charlotte snapped,

"Charlotte. Becoming an animagus isn't easy. It is very complex magic. Patronus Can be just as difficult for some people, as it's quite similar to Animagus study, just a different form. Are you thinking of a happy memory?" Potter asked in a surprisingly calm and gentle tone.

"Well yeah, kind of," Charlotte muttered unconvincingly, blowing back a piece of knotted hair that fell in her eyes.

"What is it?" He asked, leaning back against the stacked tables once more.

She sighed and wrapped her arms around her, a movement she was aware that James was analysing, as his eyes never seemed to leave from their fixed position on her.

"My mum and dad had decided to take us, myself and my sisters, to the theatre for the first time. I would have been only 7. No, 8 at the time. I remember being very excited and talking about it days before hand," she explained with a small smile, watching as she wringed her hands together. "It'd been a hard summer, mum and dad didn't have a lot of money… And it was a nice treat."

Charlotte looked up to see James watching her with a small smile, his hands in his pockets. Her eyes narrowed at his 'knowing look' and she had the feeling there was pity somewhere in that gaze as well. It made her somewhat less thankful for his help.

"That is a nice memory," he conceded with a nod of his head. "Though it isn't exactly _happy._ It has to be a purely happy memory, and that one is more excitement and expectation for a happy event…." He tapped his lips thoughtfully, watching Charlotte with a critical eye. "How did the night turn out?"

"Not as planned," Charlotte admitted with a frown. Everything had been brilliant, the movie was fantastic, and their parents even bought popcorn to share. When it was over, Charlotte had sat in complete awe, watching the rolling credits, not noticing as her family walked away from her. The theatre manager ended up having to call the local police, because she'd stuck by the 'don't talk to strangers' rule, and refused to tell anyone who she was or who her parents were.

It was a ridiculous affair, and mortifying for her parents. They hadn't even realised that Charlotte hadn't exited the theatre with them.

"I'd gotten lost," Charlotte said with a sigh, twirling around her wand and scuffing the bottom of her shoe on the ground. "It was a big drama, I was in trouble. Not something I want to talk about to be honest."

Charlotte watched as James nodded his head, making his messy curls of hair fall into his eyes before he unconsciously flicked it back. He was deep in thought, that was obvious enough, and the idea that it was about her, made Charlotte want to desperately change the topic.

"What about you," she urged with a hand movement, bringing him out of the thought daze, as he gave her a confused look. "What memory do you use?"

A smile stretched on his face, and Charlotte couldn't help but feel envious of that look. The look of realisation and joy. She walked over and stood beside him against the desk, awaiting his answer. She was perhaps a little bit surprised by how curious she was, as she really wanted to know what made him happy enough to conjure his patronus, all whilst silently hoping it didn't have anything to do with Lily.

For his sake, _of course._

"Generally," he said, pulling out his wand. "It's a memory with friends or a quidditch match."

He pointed his wand to the centre of the room, his eyes closing for a moment. Charlotte had to wonder what it was that he was thinking about to make a small grin envelop his face, as he murmured, " _expecto patronum."_

Charlotte took a step back, staring in awe as a cloud of white smoke and light burst forth from his wand, soon followed by a form. At first she couldn't tell what it was, and just as she thought she might be able to guess… It disappeared into the white surroundings as though it hadn't been there in the first place.

With her mouth wide open and her expression of shock seemingly petrified, she looked at James, to find him smiling softly at her expression.

"Just then, I thought of the time Remus, Pete, Sirius and I stayed up with the specific intention to prank professor binns. It was a _rewarding_ night, I can tell you that."

Charlotte was struggling to find the words to form a sentence, as she was still captivated by the image of the creature that began to form out of the joy of James potter. The idea that his purely joyful thoughts could create something so beautiful seemed to have her caught in a state of equilibrium, unable to process that it had been a lesson.

This has been the third corporeal she'd had the privilege of seeing, the first being Professor Mcgonagall's cat, Lily's unicorn, which spoke of itself, and now….

"What was it?" Charlotte asked, her voice barely above a whisper. James, was surprisingly humble as he smiled towards her, choosing not to revel in the awe she was so openly giving him.

She watched in disappointment as he tucked his wand back into his waist.

"It was the re-living of a happy memory." She frowned at his non specific answer, knowing that he knew what she was really asking.

"Try something else, a different memory, something more recent", he said after a few moments of her absently staring into the space where, she could have sworn, an animal emerged from his wand. _What animal though?_

Charlotte frowned, drumming her fingers on the desk behind her. A different memory? Perhaps it wasn't difficult for him, but for her? "Err.. Okay well I guess-"

"Just think about it," James interrupted, holding up a hand. "When you ready to try, just give it a go."

Happy thoughts. Happy memories. Well.. She could always do the time she and lil- no that had ended horribly. Or perhaps when- no again. Almost all her memories of her and Lily had ended horribly, or at least on a bad note.

She got a top mark in an exam, but that was soon shot down when lily received first place in every other class. She'd hard James' snort of amusement at her gritted annoyed expression as she desperately fished for a memory that was deemed happy 'enough'.

The happiest she had been for a long time was when she was with... Charlotte's eyes lifted hesitantly from her wand in her hand towards the boy sitting next to her, watching her with an encouraging smile. One she couldn't help but respond to with a hesitant smile of her own, even as her cheeks blushed a bright red.

Could she really use the memory of last night? She had been with another person, someone who wasn't Lily, and she had actually had fun. it was clouded by the unfortunate account of several arguments and fights, but it was a good memory, none the less.

And perhaps, possibly, perchance she may have slightly, to some degree, scarcely ,enjoyed being hugged. Charlotte cleared her throat and ran a hand over her face, in hopes of wiping away any trace of a blush that might be lingering.

Charlotte slowly stood from the table, keeping her eyes on her wand, in case it strayed to her left where _he_ was sitting.

She closed her eyes and breathed slowly in and out, squashing down any embarrassment, knowing he couldn't possibly know what she was thinking. She quickly ran through the memory of last night and opened her eyes, quietly muttering, "Expecto patronum."

Charlotte completed the hand movement, and found herself gnawing her lip in concentration. It was like she was hesitant to see the proof that it _was_ a happy memory, a strange thought in of itself. She knew it was a happy memory, but to see the proof of it just seemed surreal.

Luckily, Charlotte's fears were for nothing. Similarly to before, she felt a gust of wind and a strange expectation in her belly, and smoke shot out of her wand. There was a pure white ethereal glow to the smoke as it clouded her wand, before it disappeared, and Charlotte found herself, once again, staring at her wand in disappointment

"Better, you could actually see white smoke this time," Charlotte glared at James, noting he probably said it to humour her, though she wasn't really seeing the funny side of her terrible ability to do anything practical in magic.

"Oh ha ha. This is bloody impossible." She said with a grim frown, dropping her wand arm to her side.

 _It is rather late, perhaps they should just head back..._

"Try again, this time, louder. Before you closed your eyes. Do it again this time, right now." Charlotte raised her brows as James stepped beside her. He watched her expectantly. "Yes now," he specified with a laugh, realising the question in her eyes. She sighed, looking at James with a small amount of distrust. He lifted a brow, and Charlotte reluctantly shut her eyes. "Okay I want to visualise where you were, who you were with. I want you to feel what you were feeling then."

Charlotte sighed, thinking over last night. She thought of her humorous discussion with Sirius, the quiet enjoyment in dressing up a little more than she usually would. Then she thought of the awkwardly comfortable feeling of being in a broom cupboard with James potter, the doofus trying to date her sister.

She remembered talking about lily, and the quiet understanding that echoed off him, even if she had the nagging doubt he would take Lily's 'side'. Sh remembered how he calmed her down, broken through a barrier. She thought over how she finally accepted him as a friend and the silent excitement that bubbled inside of her. The _fun_ of trying to get back to the common room, without being caught. Their playful banter and even when she sent a small incendio towards his trousers and the shocked expression he sported. Even afterwards, when they got back into the common room, he'd managed to keep up her spirits until it was his own that were brought down by lily.

"Let that feeling spread through you. Let it spread to your fingertips, encasing your magic. Say the words. Loud and clear."

Charlotte stiffened when she felt James come behind her, his hand wrapping around her forearm and lifting it so as to point at the air before her. He let go, and she felt her muscles constrict in a desperate attempt to not let her arm drop with his.

"Thank you, I completely forgot how to lift my arm for a moment," she muttered sarcastically, an annoyance surging through that she couldn't possibly name.

" _Focus,"_ he urged with a chuckle.

She was thinking over his words, and it made sense. To let a joyful feeling encase you so completely that it merged with magical intention, how could it not result in something positive? She might've actually had the opportunity to perform such a task, had he not suddenly decided to rest both his hands on her shoulders. She felt him come closer, and there was an insolent puff of breath on her neck, her spine stiffening instantly.

"Focus Charlotte." He urged again, squeezing her shoulders. Her eyes snapped open, and she felt herself frowning deeply.

"Your hands are a bit distracting," Charlotte muttered sharply.

"Have it your way," he bit back with a laugh, a hint of surprise in his voice, relieving his hands. She sighed deeply in relief, stretched her shoulders and shook out her arms, all the while trying to clear her mind.

She ran through the memory again, this time without the interruption of James and his hands and when she felt confident that it was in the forefront of her mind, she opened up her eyes, determination written into ever etch of her expression.

"Expecto patronum!" Charlotte stepped back in shock as a force came out of her wand. A pang of disappointment hit her when she realised it wasn't a full fledged patronus, though it was hindered by the sight of the shield of light before her. Every stream that seemed to pour forth from the ebony wand curled around in a circular motion like a wave with the pure intention to surround Charlotte.

It wasn't as beautiful as James' corporeal patronus, or as impressive as the unicorn that trotted out of Lily's willow wand, nevertheless it was a remarkable feat.

"Hey, that's good! Not corporeal, but it's a strong incorporeal!" James said with a wide smile, looking at the wave of light as it slowly dimmed and disappeared.

Charlotte laughed with a bright smile on her face. He was right, it was something. In fact it was the most progress she had made on wand work in months. She'd been quietly surprised that she was able to cast an incendio the night before, but easily more so now. Charlotte couldn't name what was different, but there was a confidence that had seemed to appear that wasn't there a few weeks ago.

'This is going to take forever.' Charlotte muttered with a frown, looking at James. She didn't necessarily mean it negatively, It would take a long time, as this was the late result of her constant attempts at creating a patronus. They hadn't even approached Animagus yet.

"It will take awhile if you keep up that attitude," he remarked with a raised brow that quickly turned curious as Charlotte leaned on a table, resting her wand in her hand."'What was the memory?'

Charlotte's eyes widened, and she looked down at her wand, playing with it nervously as she scuffed the top of her show on the ground.

"Uhh... I was... Uh. Hanging with a friend.' Charlotte muttered, rubbing her cheek with the back of her hand, instantly hoping the heat on her cheeks wasn't as bright as it felt.

Charlotte had no desire to tell him that she had, in fact, been thinking of him when she cast the patronus. The foreign sound of Charlotte laughing at James offended expression as he held the back of his trousers that had, only moments before, been aflame.. The crinkle in his eyes, and the dimples in his cheeks. How soft and inviting his hazel eyes had been. For a moment, she forgot about the deal. She was simply enjoying the feeling of being with a friend.

But as Charlotte thought this over with a steady blush, realisation hit her like a curse. Perhaps they _were_ friends now, but would they still be after their deal was at its end, with the result being either negative or positive?

"Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I thought you had no friends other than Lily and me," James said with a smirk, pulling Charlotte away from her thoughts.

"I consider Sirius my friend," Charlotte said with a shrug, though James' curiosity didn't seem any lessened by that nonspecific answer. "What makes you think I even consider you my friend?"

Charlotte couldn't help but smile at the offended look he gave, even if it disappeared after only a moment.

"Darling, we both know you love me," he drooled with a cheeky smile, dimples included. Charlotte rolled her eyes and left his side, stepping back to the centre of the room before he could notice that she was still blushing.

"I'm going to ignore that and try again," Charlotte said with a pointed look at her wand.

"Well, that's a much better attitude, it looks like you're actually trying now instead of looking all pathetic."

"Hey!" Charlotte snapped with a laugh, holding up her wand and nodding her head towards it. " Remember I'm the one with the wand out right now!"

"I'm horrified." He said monotonously, waving his hands around dramatically. Charlotte bit back a small smile watching him act like an idiot, focusing on the room instead. "Come on now."

For the next hour or so, they spent their time in a similar manner, Charlotte desperately attempting to turn her patronus corporeal, and James correcting her at certain points. Of course they had their moments of playfulness, where James would say something bloody stupid and Charlotte, unable to help herself, corrected him. He'd managed to point out that she wasn't speaking clearly, she didn't look happy enough when saying it and that the angle she pointed her wand at an angle that was set up for failure. Not to mention, her feet weren't facing forwards, she was slouched and had her hair in her face.

In the end, she'd tell him, without any guilt, to shut his mouth, with a fair few more expletives. He'd jovially watch on, as she managed to improve each time, quite content in believing he was the perfect teacher.

She'd managed to cast an impressive patronus, with a smile still lingering on her face, when James decided to interrupt her good streak.

''Keep working using that memory, it's apparently a good one," he said thoughtfully, looking rather comfortable from where he sat. He gone from leaning against a desk, to sitting on it. Now, he laid extended across two desks pushed together, his head resting on his two hands as he watched her. His stubborn hair fell in his eyes every time he moved, and she had to laugh each time a strand fell his eyes, the action forcing him to swipe at his hair or blow it away.

Charlotte shook her head slightly, surprised that she had been so distracted by his hair. "I suppose…" she grumbled, annoyed that her cheeks were as red as before. Whether she was embarrassed about the idea that he was encouraging her to use a memory of him, or because she found his hair so distracting, she couldn't yet

decide.

"It was about me, wasn't it?" James asked with a growing smirk, his head tilted to the side and seemingly amused by Charlotte's expression.

"Wh...what!" Charlotte screeched, for a moment forgetting that a 17yr old boy didn't yet have the ability to practise occlumency. It was the look on his face that halted her panic and set in relief. "Oh you're a right foul git! I'll have you know, if I thought a memory of you, a dementor is likely to pop out of my wand."

"Ouch," James said with a laugh, sitting up from the tables and straightening out his shirt. "that one hurt Charlotte."

"Aww did I bruise your big ego?" She said with a smile, coming to sit beside him.

"Nah, it can take a few hits," He said with a wink, nudging his shoulder with hers. She bit back a smile and shoved him back, perhaps a bit more harder than necessary, causing him to raise a brow. She hadn't yet gotten a hold of the whole… 'Friendship' thing.

"So uh," Charlotte said hesitantly, scuffing her shoe on the ground. "About last night…. With lily." Charlotte winced, and looked up to find James already smiling sadly.

"Ah," he said, a monotonous laugh barely leaving his lips. "I thought we might touch this topic. Well I don't really blame her… Most of it was true. I suppose I didn't know she felt so strongly about it."

Charlotte watched as he ran a hand over his face, the weariness peaking in over his usual cheery demeanour.

Truthfully, she had wanted to broach the subject the first time she saw him, however she'd been far too focused on her headache and homework, almost forgetting the events of the night before.

"It's not true," Charlotte said with a frown, waiting till he met her eyes with his own. "You're not selfish, or an idiot, or arrogant, or a bigot. You can sometimes act like a little kid, but I don't think it means you're immature. You know how to have fun, and that's important. You sometimes take things too far, but you generally learn from your mistakes."

He seemed somewhat surprised, but she wasn't yet done.

"Your bloody brilliant, and I've never even heard you brag about it. You can act a little uppity, but I genuinely believe you do it to humour others." Charlotte leaned back, looking out towards the chair and tables, thinking hard. "I've never heard or seen you make fun of anyone who didn't really deserve it. With the exception of Severus, though we've already discussed that sensitive topic before. You're loyal to a fault, and kind to your friends."

"If Lily can't see what a good person you are, then she's blind. Or been confunded. Or just plain dim." Charlotte was emphatic and she met his surprised stare head on, smiling genuinely.

"Carefull Charlotte," he said with a growing smile, his head tilted and his hair hanging effortlessly in his hazel eyes. He leaned forward, a smirk on his face and his dimples denting the sides of his face audaciously. "I might just fall for you."

"And then you say that," Charlotte said with a sigh, shaking her head. To her appraise, James threw his head back and laughed loudly, uncaring of how late it was and the idea they were out _way_ past curfew for bed. She smiled in appreciation of her friend, deciding to think over his words at a later time when he wasn't around.

"I hate to say it, but we should probably head back," James said with a sigh, a smile still on his face. "Any later and our chances of getting caught quadruple."

"Quadruple?" Charlotte repeated with a raised brow. _So specific._

"Quite literally," James said with a straight face. "More teachers and prefects."

"I'd ask how you knew that," Charlotte said, picking up her belongings and tucking her wand at her hip. "However I believe it's fairly self-explanatory."

He gave her a wide smile then jumped off the desk, pushing them back to where they were before James had disturbed them. He began cleaning the board of his notes, putting things here and there so their presence would be admissible as possible. Whilst he did that, Charlotte picked up her own stuff, put her robes back on, and stood by the door, waiting for him to finish.

Though Charlotte could admit, quite freely, that James was bloody smart in ways that weren't obvious, what made her confused the most, was how he knew so much about Animagi. It certainly wasn't from study, as she'd barely ever seen him pick up a book, let alone research of his own free will. Though he might of if he was invested in the topic enough…

Considering Charlotte had spent weeks researching and the only helpful piece of text was from the tatty brown book she kept in her bag at all times, she doubted he got his knowledge from the book. Even if professor mcgonagall had a certain liking to him, she doubted the professor would _ever_ shares the secrets of becoming an Animagi, especially with the knowledge that he would use it to cause more harm than good.

Now that she thought about it, she didn't even know why James became an Animagi. He'd said, as a rather broad and unspecific answer, that he had a personal interest in animagus study and transfiguration, which Charlotte knew was true from the 6 years of James being almost head of their transfiguration class. However, he didn't seem passionate enough to go through 3 years of gruelling work _alone_ , all in the hopes that he'd eventually achieve his animagus form, without the knowledge of knowing if he was even doing anything bloody right.

 _Not likely at all._

"How the hell do you know so much about Animagi by the way?" She mused aloud, crossing her arms as she watched him pause his activity in the room. He deliberated his answer, playing with the blackboard duster absentmindedly.

"Remus," he said after a great deal of thought, nodding his head, as though he was ensuring that it had been the right answer.

Charlotte's eyes widened, and a wide smile broke out. "Is, is he one as well? An animagi?" She asked in an excited hush that seemed rather ridiculous considering how loud they'd been the entire night.

"'No. Of course not," James said laughing, a little more than necessary really. He shook his head at, what he clearly believed to be, the silly thought. He went back to his dusting duties, every now and then shaking his head, as though still thinking on her question.

"Then why would all four of you apparently know so much about it?" Charlotte asked with a suspicious frown, walking up to him slowly so she could see his face as he worked out _how_ to answer her question.

James opened his mouth, then closed it, frowning. He looked around, ran his hand through his hair, looked at Charlotte, ran his hand through his hair then cleared his throat, all the while Charlotte stood with a raised brow, watching his motions with a fair amount of amusement. "They helped me when I did it," he eventually said nonchalantly with another 'nod', the action truly starting to strain charlotte's nerves.

She looked James over, and leaned against the table, slowly shaking her head. "You're lying," Charlotte said with a sigh, rolling her eyes. She hoped he was lying for good reason, because if all this turned out to be phoenix dung, she just might have to hit him with another incendio, _perhaps one that was stronger than the last._

"Am not," he remarked petulantly with a pout.

"You are, it's so bloody obvious as well!' Charlotte said loudly, with a laugh. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion and she hit him with an icy glare she'd seen Lily use sometimes, hoping it had a similar effect. "Are you even an animagus?"

For a moment he looked genuinely offended, but that fell away, likely because he realised how _unconvincing_ he was at the moment.

"Of course I am!" He defended emphatically his eyes lighting up with passion, the passion she'd only ever really seen when he'd spoken of quidditch.

"Can you prove it?" She said raising a brow in challenge, already half believing him, but hoping he'd meet her challenge and actually _prove_ he was a Animagi. She wanted to know about it so desperately, wanting to see it happen, wanted to experience it herself. She wouldn't have come _near_ James had she not been passionate about Animagi herself.

"I'm giving you all this information aren't i?" He said, absently waving his wand around the room as proof of demonstration.

"That doesn't prove anything." Charlotte didn't really believe that, but she'd like to hear a truthful answer from him about this. "Are you the only one?"

"I…" Charlotte's brow subconsciously rose at James' slight stuttering, as he looked for an answer. "Of course!"

"Liar," she bit back in a second.

"Brat," James said afterwards, rolling his eyes when Charlotte stuck her tongue out at him petulantly. "Well that's certainly mature," he drooled with a sigh, a half smile hidden underneath his cover of annoyance.

"I know right," Charlotte said with a smirk, mentally remembering to probe him on an answer later.

James finished the board, and met Charlotte near the door, his robe on, his _school_ robe of course, and his satchel across his chest.

"Okay, well I want you to keep practising your patronus with that same memory. It's a good one." Charlotte nodded her head absently, biting her lip as she watching James run a hand through his hair thoughtfully. "So how did you think I went?" Charlotte looked back at his expectant face, raising a curious brow. "Teaching."

"Oh that," Charlotte said, putting on an intentionally blank expression. "Other than your less than helpful manner, how you managed to invade my privacy bubble, don't laugh I'm being serious." Though he stopped laughing, a smile was still there. And by smile, Charlotte of course simply noticed his hidden dimples that spoke loudly enough that he was still humoured. "The teasing, goading and plain inability at being helpful…. Not _bad_."

James looked at her expression, noting the way she'd said _bad,_ and thinking of how the lesson really went. "I resent that," he said, cinching his eyes. His lips formed into a hard line and he didn't swipe away the hair that fell in his eyes.

Charlotte felt her dark blue eyes roll at his ridiculous attempt at being annoyed, hitting him with a skeptical look that was half comical, and the rest mostly weariness, as caused by the late hour and little sleep.

"Mhm," she muttered, bumping him with her hip as she went to open the door. Carefully she opened it, peeking out side, her head turning left and right. Once she was certain that no one was coming, she turned around.

"James, let's go," she whispered, pulling him out of his absent thinking that he seemed caught up in. She didn't doubt his knowledge of the prefect system, and knew that the longer they were out, the more likely they were to get caught and get death a bigger punishment. Punishment was definitely the last thing she…

 _What on earth..._

Charlotte's thinking was soon stopped by the smile which seemed to grow on his face like the sunrise. It just got brighter and brighter until she thought he might split his face in half from smiling so wide. "What is it now?" She asked with a sigh, closing the door slightly so no one would hear their whispers.

James practically skipped to her side, the smile trapped irreversibly on his face as he looked at Charlotte.

What, at first, looked more like a painful grimace, turned out to be one of the most genuinely happy smiles Charlotte has ever seen. His eyes weren't wide anymore, they were wrinkled and half closed, his hazel eyes just visible underneath his lashes. His mouth was still wide, but not to the point where it reminded her of the time she'd gone to, what muggles call, a circus and seen a creepy looking clown with an equally creepy smile to match. No, his wasn't like that at all.

The annoyance slipped from her expression, and was instead replaced by innocent curiosity. What could have possibly made him _that_ happy in the last minute?

"You called me James!" He whispered excitedly.

"Good Godric," Charlotte whispered harshly, rolling her eyes and opening the door fully again. She stepped out of the room and began walking without even looking for people who could be around.

 _That happy because I called him James,_ Charlotte thought with a sigh, hearing his hurried footsteps behind her, attempting to catch up. She wasn't stomping, but she certainly wasn't attempting to hide her footsteps. James on the other hand, was jovially strolling beside her, his hands in his pockets and a smirk on his face.

By an unfortunate chance, she caught his eye, and he sent an infuriating wink her way. Charlotte shook her head and increased her speed walking down the hallway, wondering in Godric's name she was _friends_ with such an odd git. Her cheeks were ablaze, her hair as messy as a hippogriffs tail and she had dark rings under her eyes and for some _other worldly_ reason, this idiot with hazel eyes, wavy messy hair and dimples that made her question the definition of a smile was looking at her like _that_.

 _Git_.

* * *

A/N

Hey hey hey!

So I present to you, with many late nights and long train trips, chapter 15. The chapter that was _meant_ to be short, but somehow managed to be just as long as the others. Typical -_-

Just another James and Charlotte… Sigh…. Sirius is in the next one thankgod. I can't tell if you guys like this story anymore or if everyone's just curious and like that I wrote Lily as a bitch.

* My heart broke in one thousand tiny pieces when I heard the news. I didn't even like Snape that much, though that was before I read the books. Alan Rickman was an amazing actor, a true loss to the world. *

Anyone read any good fanfictions lately ? I'm getting really into the hobbit and lord of the rings. Feel free to recommend some in the personal messages, as I'd like a good one.

Anyway, make sure you review? Wanna know what you all think xx


	16. Chapter 16

_**"I think of you as a friend.**_

 _ **I used to think 'friend' was just another word...**_

 _ **Nothing more, nothing less.**_

 _ **But when I met you,**_

 _ **I realized what was important was the word's meaning."**_

 **Chapter Sixteen**

* * *

(~ **Charlotte** ~)

"No." Charlotte said, glaring at James from above the potions book set before her. She had set it up like a fort, and it had been doing its job, which was to obviously block everyone else out, quite well in fact, until James sat down. Unfortunately, his eye height was just above the books. You generally wouldn't find a pair of beautiful hazel eyes annoying unless they sat in the head of one, James potter.

"But if you ju-"

"No," Charlotte bit again, flipping a page and almost tearing it from the book's spine. She wasn't even writing anymore or reading. So hard was it to concentrate that the words were muddling together, she was flipping through pages faster than her eyes could glance across words and she'd managed to tear two… _three_ pages since James came over.

"Just let me-"

"No." Her teeth were gritted and a hand was on her forehead hoping that the simple contact would ward away the headache she could feel coming. If only magic worked like that.

"Godric! Can you-"

"NO!" Charlotte yelled, slamming the book closed and glaring at James in annoyance.

"BUT YOU SAID-" With aggravated eyes, Charlotte pulled out her wand, aimed it at James and said, with a great amount of determination _'Silencio_!'

Her wand almost fell from her hand when a piercing pain hit her in the forehead, blinding her for a few moments as she desperately tried to claw away from the pain. She sent a glare at James, and tried to ignore the lightheaded feeling that weighed her body down as he silently yelled at her.

She pointedly went back to her books, and ignored James' attempts at getting her to look at him, though when he pulled her book away, it was a little too hard to ignore.

She was exhausted, had a piercing headache and felt like she might faint at the smallest change of wind, and this _git_ wouldn't piss off. Sirius decided to walk into the common room, just as Charlotte picked up another book with the full intention of hitting James with it.

"Evening !" He yelled, making Charlotte jump. James turned his attention to Sirius, miming out the situation he landed himself in in the hopes his best friend could undo it. Sirius stood watching for a few seconds, shrugged, declared he couldn't understand him, and fell into the ruby couch located near the fire place, looking over Charlotte with a concerning brow. "You alright love?You look a tad pale."

Charlotte sighed, the action seeming to exhaust her all the more as she nodded slowly. "I'm fine, just a little tired and BOTHERED is all." A pointed look at James, and James' glare at Charlotte was really all that was necessary to understand what had gone on.

"Charlotte? Why did you put a silencing charm on prongs?" Sirius asked, his brow raised and a humoured smirk dancing across his lips.

"He was trying to convince me, quite poorly in my opinion, to talk him up to Lily," Charlotte explained calmly, refusing to look at James himself, lest she spell him with anything else.

"I told him that I didn't want to be involved in anything like that. I am information giver only, if I start forcing a good opinion on Lily then she will reject it outright."Sirius nodded as though it was clearly obvious, all the more enforcing Charlotte's idea that James was being unreasonable. "And I ALREADY TOLD HIM THAT but the stubborn mule wouldn't stop bothering me!"

What Charlotte didn't describe was the stack of work that was beginning to pile on her bedside table, and how she has dedicated this one night away from everyone so she could focus on her studies. End of years weren't far off, and, though it was always on the forefront of her mind to beat Lily, she was beginning to care less and less about whether she came first, and more about getting a mark that she could be relatively proud of.

On top of this, she couldn't manage to cast a patronus, no matter how hard she tried, with any memory other than the one with James. Not only did it cripple her pride exhaustively, it worried her that she seemed to cling to this newfound friendship so strongly that it was seemingly her only source of happiness. They didn't even know each other _that_ well. The most personal thing that James shared with Charlotte was what he thought about when he castes his patronus, and he wasn't even that specific about it.

Sure she knew a lot from being in the same class and hearing lily ramble on about him for years, but she didn't know any of the important stuff. What's his favourite colour? What are his parents' names? How did he get into pranking? Why lily? Why must he insist on keeping his unruly hair so bloody long if it manages to sit in his face a second after he moves it?

Though, of course, she didn't really mind not knowing all that stuff. It wasn't like she was desperate to know everything about him. She'd just like to know if he was as good as she thought he was. She'd also like to know why he doesn't cut his hair, though that's hardly as important.

"Although I must admit it's nice not to hear him badgering constantly, could you release him?" Sirius asked with a side smile and his eyes wide with a pleading look that's she'd sworn he'd used before.

 _Perhaps that time he tricked me into considering the deal with James..._

"That depends," she said suspiciously, looking at Sirius then James who had a similarly pleading expression. Though his, in Charlotte's high opinion, was far more convincing. It had something to do with his eyes..."Are you going to shut your trap and stop asking me?"

James seemed to consider his options as he sat mute, drumming his fingers on the desk to a repetitive rhythm that had Charlotte's left eye twitching erratically after a few seconds.

Eventually, he nodded. Charlotte sighed, raising her wand and sending the counter-curse his way, un-muting him. Charlotte shook her head lightly and tried to get rid of the feeling that seemed to pull her down like a current in the ocean. James' testing of his voices, which resulted in ear damage from his horribly out of tune singing, gave Charlotte the distraction she needed to shut her eyes for a few seconds to dispel the feeling completely.

At least there was no headache this time...

"You didn't have to silence me you know. And I'm not a mule," James defended with a frown, crossing his arms and pouting like a petulant child scolded by his mother.

"You asked me 36 times!" Charlotte cried with disbelief. It was one thing to bother her unnecessarily, but to do it while she was studying, and constantly no less, was intolerable. James is quite lucky she hadn't decided to blast him out of Hogwarts with the way he was carrying on. Of course she would never actually have the magical ability to blast him anywhere, much less out of Hogwarts, but Charlotte was thinking theoretically.

"Love, the number of times he's asked out Lily is ranging in the hundreds. Are you really so surprised he's this persistent?" Sirius cut in, raising a brow. Sirius tucked his arm behind his head like a makeshift pillow so he was given a better view of James and Charlotte. Charlotte's wondered if he did this often, taking over the whole lounge so other Gryffindors were forced to sit elsewhere. It wouldn't exactly be _surprising_.

Charlotte turned her eyes away from Sirius, burning holes into James instead. 'I was hopeful that he held that specific annoying trait for my sister alone, but I now understand it's a serious character flaw." James opened his mouth wide in an O shape, putting a hand on his chest and appearing bloody offended of all things.

Sirius seemed to be agree with Charlotte as he gave a sound of recognition, muttering his agreeance. "Hey! Persistence is a good thing! I never give up on anything, and that is something to be proud of!" James defended as he sat tall in his chair.

Charlotte rolled her eyes, half expecting him to beat his chest like a gorilla by the way he was acting. "Whatever. I'm not talking to Lily about you, and that's the end of it," she pointed her wand at him again, to which he simply raised his hands. She lowered it slowly with a glare, and went back to her reading.

"Fine," James grumbled, once again sounded like a small child. Charlotte had to bite back the thought that perhaps Lily was right about James being immature. She was surprised to find it wasn't because it was Lily she would be agreeing with, rather the idea that her aggreance would hurt James. He probably knew he was immature…or childish. What had Charlotte said? That he was fun? "Have you been practising your patronus?" He asked off hand, leaning forward and resting his head on his hands, looking at Charlotte with a small smile.

"No," Charlotte said, trying to hold back the venom in her words. She took a breathe, looking at James over her books, feeling her annoyance slip away at the sight of his smile. "I haven't had the time. You do realise our exams are only weeks away?"

"Well then you have weeks to study for it, why are you so worried?" He asked, curiously with a tilt of his head.

"James, some people like being prepared for exams." She didn't even attempt to hide her annoyance then. _Just because he could get top marks without opening a book..._

"How ghastly," Sirius declared from the lounge, his arm now resting over his face. He looked half asleep and Charlotte smiled slightly, looking back at James, finding him already watching her with lowered brows. She saw his eyes shift to Sirius for a second and back to Charlotte, the look falling away and curiosity replacing it when he saw Charlotte was watching him.

 _How odd._

"Yes, it's utterly horrifying, but it's necessary to get good marks." _For some people,_ She amended with a mere mutter, looking back down at her half scribbled notes and unconsciously finding herself scuffing her shoe on the floor.

She'd forgotten what she was even meant to be writing about...

"Charlotte, do you mean to say you don't like the work?" Sirius asked, suddenly seated in the lounge.

 _Honestly_ , every time she looked at him he was in a different position….

"Of course not," She said, unconsciously with a snort of derision. "I would rather stare at the ceiling all day then do homework. I'm not a school kind of person."

"How exactly are you second in our year then?"

"Because Lily is first."

"Ah, Sibling rivalry." Sirius winked slowly and quite deliberately as though they were sharing a secret and Charlotte just shook her head and looked at her notes, noticing that she hadn't written a word for some time.

She was struggling to decide if it was even worth reading at this point considering James and Sirius were being quite effective in distracting her from what she was _trying_ to do. She wasn't completely sure if they were doing it on purpose or not, but considering the headache that had managed to build before they joined her, she was secretly quite thankful.

"If Lily wasn't so bloody adamant on being good at everything I would happily skip half my classes and spend all my time walking the grounds." Charlotte found herself saying this without a hint of callousness or venom, only weariness and bare honestly about what she'd honestly prefer to the torturous work set before her.

"I do believe you just described my goals for seventh year at Hogwarts," Sirius said with a loud laugh, waggling his brows. Charlotte rolled her eyes, but found herself smiling down at her book anyway.

Sirius had taken to hanging around Charlotte quite often during the week, most commonly when James was around, but often he would sit beside her during meals even when his other friends weren't present. She enjoyed his company, but was wary of his smirk. It wasn't like James', which somehow manage to annoy her, and make her smile at the same time. Sirius smirk was always so suggestive and she couldn't help but feel like he'd looked at other girls like that before, which was more than worrisome. Or perhaps he hadn't looked at other girls like he did at Charlotte, which was simply bloody terrifying.

It wasn't that she didn't trust him, in fact it was far from it. She trusted Sirius quite easily, easily enough that it worried her. Conversation was simply too easy with him. He was likely the most social person, and she the least, so they complimented each other rather brilliantly.

Then were the times where he flirted with her and she had to pretend it didn't affect her at all. Of course it bloody affected her. Just because she was was a social pariah and didn't know the first think about dating, how to flirt with a boy and all the nasty business that came along with that, didn't mean she wasn't aware that a very good looking boy was flirting with her. You'd have to be mental not to at least blush when he smiled, which is why she was so diligent in covering up her reaction.

Charlotte wasn't knowledgeable on 'crushes' or whatever it's called these days, but she knew for a fact that no good would come of Charlotte reciprocating or showing Sirius how much his flirting affected her.

What made her uncomfortable, was how he always managed to do it when they were relatively alone, or at least when James wasn't around. Just the other day, she'd been in the library, quite content to sit and stare out the window absently, her studies in the back of her mind, when he came and found her. He'd told her that he'd been looking for a book for studying, but Charlotte just gave him a look, and no more was said on his blatant lie.

He'd been telling her about the time he, James and Remus stumbled into a room with two teachers participating in…. Extracurricular activities, where he paused his retelling of the story, in favour of watching Charlotte laugh. His face turned serious, an action which _obviously_ Charlotte had to point out aloud with a snort of laughter at her own joke.

But he didn't, laugh, nor smile. He just looked at her, and told her in a quiet voice that she should 'laugh more often'. That had definitely put an end to her light mood.

She liked being around him when he laughed, and smiled and smirked out of pure cheekiness. But she didn't know what to do, say or act like when he acted differently, and she wasn't sure it was a good thing.

Charlotte was mostly glad when James met up with them, and she once again found herself in a familiar sense of easy conversation.

She'd told James she hadn't had the time to practise patronus, but really it was all she could think about. She was getting better, slowly and quite honestly, painfully. She always managed to get a ridiculous splitting headache whenever she lifted her wand these days, and if she didn't feel like her head was in the clouds, it was being dragged in the dirt.

Charlotte considered, more than once, to steal a broom from the quidditch team and just fly until her thoughts were unchained and all she could hear was the rushing of her blood and the air whipping past her. She hadn't exactly riden a broom since third year however, and wouldn't be all too shocked if she just fell off. She'd even thought about asking James to take him up in his offer to go flying, but was wary of him seeing how bad she'd become at flying. He was a top chaser after all.

"Charlotte?"

"Hm?" Charlotte said, her head almost falling off the hand she hadn't realised it had been resting on as she stared of into the distance.

James was watching her with a small smile, his eyes following her's curiously, as he sat back down. She hadn't even realised he'd stood up, as it had only been a second ago he was lounging on the chair opposite her. And where was Sirius ? He wasn't on the lounge, and didn't seem to be anywhere in the common room.

Her head whipped in every direction, but he seemed to be gone, and time left with him, for students were milling around the room in a sleepy daze.

"We're heading off to class, are you coming ?" James asked, once again attempting to get her attention. It was a little easier this time, and she gave him a small smile, laughing with slight embarrassment.

"Oh yeah, of course. Sorry was a little distracted." Charlotte began pushing all her stuff together, the pink rising in her cheeks with growing awareness that James was watching her.

"I could see that, galleon for your thoughts?" He asked with a curious smile, leaning forward on the table. She met his smile with a wary glance, wondering if he'd been sitting watching her the whole time, or whether he left.

Charlotte sighed, stopping her frantic movements to pack her study notes and quills away. She leaned back in her chair, looking at James with a small smile, that was more the quirk of the corner of her lips than anything. "I was just thinking about how different everything has been since I met you guys," clearly referring to James and his marauding friends.

"Oh? How so." Though it was obvious, he looked rather curious anyway. For a second, Charlotte had to wonder why he cared. Then she wondered why she cared that he cared. Then she got a headache.

In a desperate attempt to rid her thoughts, she called upon her sarcasm for guidance, finding it always helped her in her times of need,

"Well for one, it's like I have this annoying presence always around me... What's that called?" She said thoughtfully, tapping a finger on her chin mockingly as she raised a brow at James daringly.

"Friends?" James drooled, with a similar brow risen on his face, though it seemed more surprise at her light hearted joking than anything.

"Absolutely dreadful thing, will never try it again," she said with a sigh, shaking her head with a wistful expression that she noticed James was smiling at. Of course the smile dropped when he realised she saw his humoured reaction.

"I'm going to pretend I wasn't hurt by that comment," James said with his normal amount of dramatics which included a heaved sigh and loud sniff.

"My dear friend, it would take a far greater insult to impact your pride in the slightest," Charlotte said with a sigh, leaning forward to pat his shoulder, before standing from her chair with the intention of packing and readying for her next class.

It already looked like they might be late, but she was in a light mood, and she found herself not as weighed down by the thought of missing a second of class as she once would.

She'd knelt down to get her back when she found herself encased in a semi-familiar hold as she stood up. Her instant reaction was panic, but she opted for a calm fury instead.

"Awwwww dear friend?" James cooed, nuzzling Charlotte's neck with his head. Charlotte was absently thankful that she was wearing a scarf, and couldn't feel his cheek, nor his hair rubbing against her as caused by his antics.

Obviously, because her face was smoothed here's in his shoulder, she couldn't imagine what they looked like, but she had a feeling it would look rather odd. He would have to be leaning down to hug her the way he was, with his arms underneath hers like he was holding a doll not a 17 yr old woman, and Charlotte was struggling not to hit him where she knew it would hurt most, just to get rid of his arms.

Unlike the other night, where she stood like a statue, waiting for him go let go, she reluctantly patted his back, well aware it was the most awkward thing she'd done in awhile. James pulled away and smiled so brightly at her that it managed to make her smile as well. He would spend the next few hours that way, basking in the fact Charlotte hadn't pushed him away, unaffected by the eyeroll and semi-serious glares she sent his way.

James helped her pack her books away, and they surprising my got to the charms room in time, James leading her quickly through paths she'd never really thought to use. She was slightly distracted, on her way there and James found himself having to pull Charlotte out of her daze on more than one occasion. This state managed to drag into her classes, and lily shoved her shoulder whenever she found Charlotte simply stating off at nothing.

She'd sat with Lily during dinner and, against her greater wish, she spoke to her sister about James. She didn't mention his Quidditch skills, how smart he was, or his abs (as per James request) but she told Lily how James was helping her with her magic.

She spoke nothing of animagus, or even patronus, rather she said he was helping her with some transfiguration practical work she was stuck on. Lily's foremost reaction was ' _why didn't you come to me,'_ so Charlotte carefully reminded Lily that transfiguration wasn't exactly her greatest topic. She'd huffed, and Charlotte told lily how helpful he was and she huffed again.

Charlotte had left the great hall that night, knowing quite well, that she'd changed Lily's opinion of James in one form or another. Perhaps it was the simple idea that James wasn't as careless as Lily believed him to be.

She didn't tell James, knowing he would question her every word endlessly, but watched Lily's reactions to James for the next few days. The few times where they made eye contact. James' eyes would flicker away, and Lily's would remain watching him, her gaze turning thoughtful. All the while, Charlotte sat on the sidelines, a growing feeling in her stomach she couldn't name. She wasn't sure she wanted to either. It wasn't sadness, nor joy. A mix of both, blended and chopped together until you couldn't tell one apart from the other.

It was Friday afternoon that she allowed herself some reprieve from endless study that was as interesting as Lily's diary. Charlotte had read Lily's diary, and it was far from interesting. Endless drabble's about Alice and her fun experiences. Bits and pieces of her hurt cause by Severus and her frustration about James. All things she had heard verbally before, often many times.

Lily had, quite nicely, invited Charlotte to sit with her and her friends for dinner. It was at that time that James had called out to her, she turned to see all four boys looking over waiting as James beckoned her. She shrugged at lily, and walked to sit beside Remus, quite thankful that she was saved from awkwardly list wing in to Lily's friends conversations.

She and Remus had been jovially discussing the latest issue of the daily profit, and what news it brought from outside of Hogwarts (particularly the war that no one dared speak of) when both he and Peter left. It was rather late and the room was almost empty, but all Charlotte had left waiting for her was study and more study. Spending a few more hours with James and Sirius didn't seem so tortuous when you put it beside endless studying.

James had been telling Charlotte, in far greater detail than necessary, of the time Sirius wondered into a ladies muggle bathroom, and the abuse he'd received. She was remotely surprised that they'd even been in muggle London, as most pure blooded wizards kept to the wiz adding sections of the world, even if they weren't prejudiced against the un-magicals.

It was Sirius's unknowingly suspicious actions which brought her from laughing into curiosity. "What's that?" She said motioning towards the paper he unravelled and stared at intently underneath the table. A smile was still caught on her face as she leaned across the table.

"What's what?" Sirius said, snatching the folded paper out from underneath the desk and tucking it into his bag. Charlotte's smile dropped along with her brows. He went back to his food like nothing has happened, and when meeting Charlotte's eyes, smiled brightly, innocence ridden in the folds around his hazy grey eyes..

"That bloody parchment!"

"Nothing," James said, shrugging it off and throwing out a hand in wave motion as though it was something she shouldn't be concerned with.

"Like you said, it's just parchment," Sirius said with a shrug, meeting James eyes. They nodded in unison and Charlotte rolled her eyes at the dramatics.

"Bullshit. Hand it over," Charlotte said with a sigh, holding a hand out and watching James and Sirius expectantly. James seemed to think for a moment and turned to Sirius, opening his mouth, but his words never came out halted by his friend with the, disbelievingly, larger ego.

"Why should we?" Sirius wondered aloud, raising a brow and leaning forward there was a challenge in his eyes, and an angle to his smirk that had Charlotte wanting to fight for that stupid parchment that probably _was_ just parchment. .

"Because i asked in my nice voice," Charlotte returned with a sweet smile that was threateningly dangerous, also leaning forward onto her forearms.

"That was your nice voice?" James wondered aloud with slight amusement. His amusement seemed, in Charlotte's eyes, to fall away, as he looked between Sirius and Charlotte. Charlotte's dark blue eyes were focused solely on Sirius, and she intended to keep it that way until he handed over the parchment.

"Yep, you don't want me using my mean voice. Things can get scary." It was in answer to James, but her eyes didn't leave Sirius' a brow raising slowly as she waited for his response. A voice in the back of her head like a nagging mother, wondered what on earth she was doing, but like all nagging mothers, she pushed it aside and focused on the boy before her with long shaggy hair and a confident smirk. Nagging mothers were _always_ right, she should really learn to listen to her inner nagging mother more often.

"What do I get in payment?" Sirius said, leaning forward even more. He didn't waggle his brows like she had assumed he would, but there was an intensity to his eyes that Charlotte realised a waggle of his brows couldn't express, his smirk was like a knife cutting into her stomach and pulling her breathe out through her.

Charlotte found herself leaning further forward, almost knocking down a juice in the process. It was a large table, but it seemed to almost disappear as she leaned closer towards Sirius. A smirk fell on her lips as she looked at Sirius eyes, the way they challenged her further, slight enjoyment in being challenged at _all._ She was only ever really challenged by Lily, and sometimes, it felt like an impossible feat.

This was different though. So different.

Charlotte leaned as close towards him as she could, their noses almost touching, and she saw his smirk falter, apparently surprised at her brash actions. Her eyes trailed over his face quickly, before meeting his eyes and smirking, making his smirk disappear completely. His eyes were caught on her lips, Charlotte was sure of it.

"Absolutely." Charlotte said, moving forward a centimetre, watching as he moved back slightly. "Bloody," one centimetre more forward, and once centimetre back.

" _Nothing_." The last word was a whisper, and she let it hang in the air before flopping back down into her seat and grabbing the rest of her cinnamon scroll, finishing it off quite happily.

Sirius was caught in, would you have guessed it, a _serious_ expression.. For a second, a split second of panic, Charlotte feared she'd pushed too far. Perhaps friends weren't meant to act like that? He was like that with her all the time, was it truly so odd that she returned it for once? She was just joking around...

Her eyes flickered to James but found his eyes were locked, quite intently, to the table. She _truly_ regretted being that 'cheeky' now, for neither boys were looking at her like what she had done was as funny as she'd thought they'd find it.

"Well you're not having the parchment," Sirius said suddenly, clapping his hands together and making both her _and_ James jump in their seats. That mood which had created a panic settle in her chest was gone and replaced by his normal, odd and charming self. "So beat it," he said with a wide smile, motioning to the door of the great hall.

A childish pout found its way on Charlotte's face as she looked at Sirius' bag where she could see the large folded parchment barely peeking out. She was glad Sirius and James weren't weirded out by her attempt at 'flirting', but she'd rather they be weirded out and her curiosity be relieved.

James was smiling, but it wasn't like it was before, and she was too distracted on the disappointment of the parchment to really define what about his smile was different.

"Fine then,0 Charlotte said with a sigh, picking up her bag, and briskly walking away. Both James and Sirius protested, but she hung her head high and took those steps away from them, proud that she was sticking to her convictions of… Curiosity, or something.

After a few steps, she paused, retraced her steps, picked up another cinnamon scroll without looking at either boys then continued on her way, greedily munching on the cinnamon sweetness as she walked to her solitary archway she intended to spend most of the evening.

And her entire weekend.

* * *

(~ **James** ~)

James watched with an amused smile as Charlotte walked out of the great hall, her head held high and some sort of treat half hanging out of her mouth.

He had been quite tempted to just tell Sirius to show Charlotte the map, almost actually speaking aloud when his friend spoke over him. He trusted Charlotte...sort of. So he was still unsure of why he'd never met, heard or seen her before, but they were friends now, and he was certain that everything would be revealed eventually. Charlotte was a good person, _that_ he was determined in believing.

So what if they showed her the map? Charlotte would never tell anyone, and she wouldn't be able to use it anyway. It wasn't really that big of a deal. They, Sirius, James pete and Remus, all liked Charlotte and other than the missing details of where she has been the last 6 years of Hogwarts, James found her to be a rather brilliant addition to their small group.

His wanderings were leading him astray from the conversation, and he was only partially aware that Sirius was talking when he asked aloud, "Sirius? Do you think we should show her the-"

He was interrupted by his best friends hand being shoved under his nose to halt him from speaking any further, and his amused expression met Sirius' who seemed to be rather affronted at the suggestion.

"Prongs, are you kidding? We barely know her! Sure she's a nice bird from what we've seen, but showing her the _map_?" He let out a disbelieving puff of air, shaking his head. He seemed in a state of slight shock that James had even considered the idea of telling Charlotte."There is no way that is happening anytime soon."

"Yeah right, course." James said with a laugh, as though it had been obvious. He shook his head to rid his thoughts of telling Charlotte, finding his friends opinion a much better guide than whatever else was telling him to show her.

"Did you see that though?" Sirius said with a laugh, leaning back with his hands behind his head and smirking smugly. James tilted his head slightly, waiting for him to describe what exactly James should have seen. "She wants me."

James rolled his eyes and shook his head with a small laugh. "She was mocking you." He pointed out, using his fork to move around the food on his plate he was no longer interested in. "And doing a good job of it too."

To be truthful, James wasn't actually sure it had been all mocking. Charlotte seemed quite content flirting with Sirius, not at all seeming to be uncomfortable as she had been the past few times, which was more often than not unfortunately, almost encouraging Sirius to flirt with her. For once, it was James who felt incredibly uncomfortable. But he'd been around Sirius and a bird before, and all he'd ever felt was amusement.

Perhaps it was because Charlotte was a friend, a sister if you saw it in the right light. Of course In the right light he would be with lily. An Inaudible sigh escapes his lips, his body see if to slip closer to the floor as he hunched on his arms. Lily had been, dare he believe it, somewhat nice to him lately.

Perhaps _nice_ was a tad too far, more like courteous. She didn't glare at him from a distance, and he'd caught her looking at him every now and then. It was rather clear to him that Charlotte's little hints were working brilliantly for him. If he'd known that for Lily's impression of him to improve, all he would have to do is not talk to her and when he did, ignore her, then he would have tried it much sooner.

Just that morning, he'd come sat with Remus and Lily. He saw Remus visibly wince as James sat beside Lily, even though he kept a good foot gap between them. The _entire_ meal, he hadn't said a word to Lily, only discussing with Remus and becoming quiet whenever Lily and Remus would chat. It was difficult, but it paid off. Moony has told him that Lily had spoken for _at least_ 5 minutes after James had left, with only the topic of James. Not all of it was exactly 'good', but she didn't call him anything remotely hurtful, so that was a step up. According to Remus, she has seemed _curious._

He really didn't want to push Charlotte too hard, but bloody hell, IT WAS WORKING. More tips like the ones she gave him, and he was sure Lily would be within his embrace before graduation, just as Charlotte had hoped to become an animagus before graduation.

James' eyes drifted around the room looking for the beautiful vixen with blood red hair, and found her down the very end of the Gryffindor table, reading a book intently. It was times like these that James could simply stare at Lily, his mouth opened in silent awe for the woman before him. He could stare at her all day, but there was something ethereal about her when she was concentrating. Lately, in the last few weeks, now that James thought about it harder, James had slowly become more and more entranced by Lily. She was all he could think about at times.

She would be in his thoughts when he was flying, playing quidditch, eating, showering, when he was with the marauders. _Godric,_ she haunted his dreams like a Veela. He thought about her before bed, when he woke in the morning and every minute in between. It was the few seconds when he was distracted that he was freed from her entrapment and he could breathe once more, there was a weight lifted off his chest and a lightness in his mind.

Then he would see a flash of red, a hint of green or even a shade of cream that matched her porcelain skin all too well, and his thoughts would return to her. She was all he could think about at times.

It was partially why James was spending so much time with Charlotte. She does a wonderful job of distracting him from Lily, even when they are speaking of Lily he doesn't seem to be lost in thoughts of her. One smile from Charlotte and he felt lighter, more like himself instead of the love sick fool he seemed to be growing into lately. Not that he didn't like who he was turning into when he thought of lily, it was just plainly obvious that others (mainly Sirius and Charlotte) didn't like it at _all._ Perhaps it was her dry humour, her joyful laugh or, simply because she was Lily's sister, Charlotte seemed to be the perfect potion to bring him back to the present, remind him who his friends were. Who _he_ was.

However, what would be even more effective, would be if Lily actually spared him a single kind thought...

"Maybe, but there was something else…" Sirius said in reply to James' earlier comment, also in deep thought, though likely about Charlotte and not her twin. It was no secret Sirius didn't appreciate lily as James did. But he was sure he could change that. He was certain.

"Your dreaming mate," James said with a laugh. Charlotte wouldn't go there with Sirius, _surely._

"You against it?" James looked at the slightly offended expression on Sirius' face, that managed to be hidden quite well underneath a smirk he'd spent all his life perfecting. James felt himself frowning as he looked down at his hands and the snitch that suddenly appeared in between them. He rolled the snitch around in his hand a few times, considered the thought of Sirius and Charlotte together. As in, _together_ together. James knew Sirius had taken a liking to Charlotte, but he hadn't realised he had taken a _liking_ to her.

"I'm not for it," James said slowly, with an honesty he knew he had to share with his friend. He wasn't looking at Sirius when he said it, knowing all too well the disappointment and hurt still hidden behind the look he would give James so he didn't feel bad, that would still manage to make him feel bad. He tried to look for the words to find how he felt when he imagines, saw Charlotte and Sirius together. The problem was… he couldn't. "She's practically my sister."

It was a pretty shitty explanation for how he felt about it, but it certainly wasn't untrue or a lie.

"That would make us literally brothers," Sirius said suddenly a wide smile encasing his face as hit james on the shoulder with enthusiasm. James rolled his eyes, but couldn't help the smile that fell on his face.

"Your planning the wedding already padfoot?" he teased, winking at his friend and nudging at him to stand up so they could leave. Dinner was hardly over, and there was still light entering through the large windows, but James felt like exploring. Or better yet, pranking. It felt like it had been forever since the marauders had made a mysteriously hilarious entertainment for their peers to enjoy, even though it was only a day or two ago they'd used markers to scribble on the faces of old Slytherin professors.

"Shut up." Sirius said with a grunt, shoving him with his arm. James laughed and Sirius rolled his eyes as he grabbed his bg, pulling out the map and tucking it in his robes which felt much more secure. They made their way out of the great hall and Sirius leant over slightly, speaking just above a whisper. "You know what I meant. Seriously though, do you think she likes me?"

James looked at his friend again, noticing the lack of smirk or smug amusement that danced around his eyes whenever he thought of the 'next bird'. It was no secret within the moving walls of Hogwarts that Sirius was a bit of a ladies man. To be perfectly honest, James wasn't sure their would be any girls left that he hadn't flirted with, snogged or shagged in a broom closet by the time they reached end of 7th year. It was worrying to say the least that he'd found an interest in Charlotte, but perhaps it was different…

Sirius had had… 2 relationships that weren't flings, one night stands or just casual relationships to pass the time. They both ended horribly for both parties, and he'd watched Sirius almost destroy himself to get over the rejection. Those damn parents of his. If James knew he was likely to survive the evening, he'd confront Orion and Walburga himself. Sirius had been living with the potters for over a year now, and James wouldn't want it any other way, if not to simply .never _ever_ see bruises on Sirius again that Sirius himself had been the direct cause of

When he showed concern for Charlotte and Sirius, or concern over the idea of 'Charlotte and Sirius' it was for both their sakes, not simply for Charlotte because he knew of Sirius' past flings or Sirius because he was his best mate. James knew Sirius would find a girl eventually, and James was sure that she would be quite a special thing. Perhaps it was Charlotte afterall… Charlotte had a spark. She was fiery and sarcastic, brilliant and kind. Perhaps Charlotte was exactly who Sirius needed. Sirius was charismatic and adventurous, forward, head strong and loyal. He may be what _she_ needs.

However, James didn't articulate a word of his thoughts to Sirius. He didn't tell him that it's quite possible that Charlotte could like him, or that he had a high chance of a relationship working. No, he told him nothing of the sort."Hard to tell…"

James shook his head and mentally beat himself for the lame-ass answer. What kind of friend was he. He opened his mouth a few times, with the full and good-hearted intention of clearing it is up, letting him know exactly what he needed to hear, which was obviously... _the truth._ But all that came out of his mouth was his uneven breaths that came out in short puffs when he resisted breathing for too long.

 _The bloody fuck,_ He couldn't fathom what was wrong with him. He'd never been hesitant to tell Sirius what he'd thought before. What was so different now? James had seen how Sirius had started paying Charlotte more and more attention, and it was cute in a… disturbing way. He could think these thoughts as easily as he played quidditch, which was pretty damn easy, but he couldn't articulate a single syllable. Not a single noun, syllable or verb.

"Well, it's only a matter of time before she falls hard for me." Sirius said with a sigh that James just looked quizzically he was glad the awkward silence had disappeared, an occurrence which _never_ happened between he and Sirius, he couldn't help but wince at the disappointment that was lingering in Sirius' eyes. _I caused that._ He was shaking his head with a forlorn expression, a small smirk on his face and James bit back the urge to whack him upside the head. James smiled at the thought, strangely finding it comforting. Sirius was putting humour in the situation, that was a _good_ thing. A very good thing.

"You know what they say prongs, once you go Black, you can never go back." Sirius winked and left James standing in the hallway watching him with a plain gaze.

"No one says that Sirius. No one."

James smiled the instant a loud bark of laughter escaped Sirius like a desperate breathe, any fear of their previous conversation disapparating instantly. After only a few minutes of them talking of other things, James found himself wondering what he'd got so worked up for in the first place. Neither of them were serious about what they'd said. Surely he didn't really _like_ Charlotte, and James only didn't share the truth because he knew that. He was just being silly.

All he had to do was see it in a different light, and in that light, it was obvious that he was thinking too hard about the entire conversation. It didn't make sense for him to be against his best mate and Charlotte, someone he'd come to accept in his inner friend group. He was tired, bored of school and hadn't pranked in days, and it was coming back to bite him on the ass.

Yes, that's all it was. There's simply no other explanation for it.

* * *

(~ **Charlotte** ~)

"This time," Charlotte whispered to her ebony wand. Her eyes were shut, and a voice deep within her was pleading aloud, begging Merlin and all the founders for the kind of magic she _knew_ she had the capabilities of, to bloody reveal itself.

She was trying to trust her little wand. Trust that when Olivander said, quite assuredly, that her wand held great potential if she only harnessed her magic correctly, that he hadn't been lying. Trust that she had the strength to do this, because she knew she did.

Her eyes opened, and they focused on her wand, the heavy wood resting balanced in her right hand. It had scratches in the wood, put there long before she'd stepped foot in Diagon alley. Scratches she'd dared believe we're a dialect, of some sort. Lily thought she was silly, declaring with a laugh that it was far more likely that Charlotte had simply dropped her wand too many times. That was also a possibility.

She'd had this wand since she was 12 years old. It had been such a good wand to her, for most of that time. It was quite possible that it wasn't the wand at all that failed her practically, rather her own magical ability which never failed to leave a pathetic impression on anyone unfortunate enough to be watching her in action.

But for some odd fantastic reason, she felt confidence tonight, a confidence she'd been wishing for, for months. She wish it had nothing to do with James and Sirius, but it unfortunately had and it baned her very existence to admit it. It wasn't that they smiled at her, so she felt pretty like some pathetic bimbo, Godric help her the day that ever happened, it was more the comfortable feeling of their friendship which made her feel like she had a chance tonight. Was it so wrong she felt strengthened by being in their presence? She never felt as light headed or deficient when she was in their general proximity, and it was only really when she picked up her wand that the odd sickness returned.

That said, it was often when she felt most determined that she would be able to complete a spell, that it ended in disaster or worse, it resulted in nothing at all, and she was left humiliated in front of her peers, or plain frustrated alone.

She'd rather blow up the side corner of Hogwarts than not be able to cast a single stupid spell.

It was late. Far too late to be out of her dorm, yet Charlotte was risking it all. She wasn't like James. She couldn't cast a silencing spell on the room, nor one that would dispel any light escaping and she dared not think of the weight of her punishment if she was caught in this room, doing spells so late after curfew. This room was restricted, not meant to be used for anything other than practical defence class.

She would accept the punishment, no matter the gravity or consequences, if only she managed to complete the spell before she was discovered. That is all she asked.

"You can do this," Charlotte whispered to herself, and her wand. "Focus, and do the bloody spell."

Once more, Charlotte shut her eyes. Happy memories. Though that memory of she and James in this very room was one that had brought her to a incorporeal patronus several times, it simply wasn't strong enough. Not anymore. She had the feeling it was because something had risen that was stronger.

Charlotte sighed deeply, her chest heaving outwards as her mind nervously nudged at the memory unfolding before her.

They were in the common room, and James had just released her from the hug that seemed to come out of nowhere, as all his hugs seemed to be. She'd reciprocated, though awkwardly, and a wide grin was caught on his face. He seemed genuinely happy that she had responded likewise to his hug, and though she had been annoyed at the ridiculous expression which had stayed frozen on his face for the entirety of the day, she couldn't deny the feeling of elation, that started in her stomach and rose in her chest.

He was smiling widely at her, an understanding and appreciation in his eyes that she was stupefied by. Not that he would be feeling such a thing, just that he would be feeling and showing it, so freely, for Charlotte. His hair was a mess, his glasses barely hanging on to the bridge of his nose and she was almost sure that he had bits of lunch on his shirt, but his hazel eyes were wide. The blues greens and brown swirling together like a dance. And those dimples... How could she not smile in response?

She ignored a feeling in her stomach, a doubting question that pulled her from using this memory, abandoning it as quickly as it appeared. She knew this was the memory. It had to be.

She had tried the memory of James and Charlotte sneaking around the school, even the look on Sirius and James' faces when she had jumped up the secret passage way out of Hogwarts, remembering the pride and humour she felt at their surprise. The first time she scored higher than Lily, when she'd sat in her alcove looking across the school, the stars flickering for her enjoyment. When James had sat with her in that broom closet, when he'd listened and when he smiled. When he'd hugged her. When Sirius had flirted, and James had joked.

None of it had worked.

But she knew, was certain, that this was the one. So she pushed away the caution, the warning, and focused on the joy she felt when James smiled at her so freely. When he smiled at her like she was the only person in the room. When he smiled at her, like he knew who she was, and wouldn't forget it. Like he was keeping his promise that he wouldn't ever forget her, not because she asked, but because he didn't want to. When he smiled at her, and she felt at home.

She hadn't felt at home… in a long time.

"Expecto patronum," her voice was but a whisper, but the smile on her face, and the silent tears sliding down her cheeks, were evidence to the raging sworn of emotions within her. The hope and expectation, and great worry, that this would work was a forgotten memory as she let it all go, and thought only of the moment she truly felt at home.

Hogwarts had always been her home, but she'd never felt anything but lonely. For some fated reason, James made her feel wanted in the only place that mattered. He cared. Whether he cared about her, or for her, was still a mystery, but there was care. She had a friend. A real friend and she'd never been so happy.

She never thought having friends would turn her into a sap, but here she was, using a memory of someone _smiling_ at her to cast a patronus, crying over her happiness and smiling at being content. Charlotte had never been so glad that James and Sirius, or anyone else really, was around to witness this moment. She'd have to mock herself later, because she was quite happily distracted by the light growing before her.

A soft glow sprinkled out of the ebony wand, meek in its entrance to the world. It swirled round, and grew in size, growing to the point where it was a large wisp of a cloud that seemed... _curious_ of all things. It lit the room like no light Charlotte had ever witnessed, and she watched in awe as the light swirled around once more before escaping in the tip of her wand.

Before she could even frown for fear that it hadn't worked, she stumbled back in shock as a burst of light escaped her wand so fierce and strong she had to grip her wand with both hands. The light shot through the air and... No, the light _bounded_ through the air.

Charlotte found herself laughing, tears pooling in her eyes as she watched the bright leap around the room, bringing light to everything it touched. The pride hadn't hit her yet, and she was quite glad for it, for she didn't want the moment to be ruined by the thought that her patronus was more majestic than Lily's. She'd allowed her petty thoughts to cloud over far too many memories, so no, this memory would remain untarnished as she refused to be anything but giddy at the sight of the light in front of her.

The creature seemed curious and content to explore the classroom for a few moments, before rushing back to Charlotte's wand, fading into a burst of light once more as it came closer to her hand.

Though she felt like she had been standing in awe of her patronus for hours, it all passed within seconds, and Charlotte could account it to the fact she for one, had no idea how to control a patronus and also that she was heavily distracted. Rightfully so considering the circumstances...

"A leopard..." Charlotte muttered, wondering what it could mean. Surely she wasn't the only one in sixth year who'd never seen such a creature in physical (or patroni) form. Whether it be care of magical creatures or simply family trips to the zoo, which were few but memorable enough that she would have remembered seeing one, she didn't know much about leopards other than they were in the tiger family. She didn't even know what type of leopard it was, for it had run too fast for her to even see the small minute, but important, details.

The honour to have a leopard as a patronus was rather overwhelming. Its legs had been strong and powerful and the body was almost as big as Charlottes. James had told her that patronus was often the reflection of your soul, your magical core.

Unfortunately, she knew naught anything more about the creature. She had a feeling this would bring on a night of no sleep and study that wouldn't help her in the slightest in her schooling, which she would still have to get to the next day…End of year exams weren't far off. So far, shed managed to be distracted out of every planned study night she'd had for almost 2 weeks now.

Surely it wouldn't be so harmful if she just spent one night with no rest…it wasn't like she didn't have good precedence. Her patronus was a bloody leopard. If that wasn't reason for one night of frivolities, she couldn't imagine what was, if not to simply find out what the physical form of her 'soul/magical core' was like. What was suprising, was how little the spell work effected her. No headaches, lightheadedness or nausea at all.

She wondered if James would show her his patronus now that she had the capability to show him hers. She could guess it was something ridiculous like a fish… or perhaps a peacock. No, that was definitely more Sirius.

Charlotte snorted to herself, twirling her wand around between her hands as she imagined James and Sirius as a fish and peacock. The room was barely lit, and she could only make out a step before her before it was wilderness once more, so her movements were slow and hesitant towards the exit.

Though casting her patronus was just a very small stepping stone on her way to becoming an animagus, it felt like a leap in the direction she'd wanted to go in for weeks. Of course, she'd have to come up with some sort of happy memory that had nothing to do with James when he eventually asks her what the memory was, because he would ask her, and if she didn't tell him, he would just tease her until she did.

She had ignored that feeling… that doubt.. an almost sickness that settled in the pit of her stomach like a dead weight, and used the memory of James to cast her patronus. It wasn't anything to worry about, it just meant she needed to spend more time with other people to create some happy memories. Easier said than done, but in theory it should work out. She refused the idea that she could only manage to cast her patronus with happy memories of James, simply because it was ridiculous. She just spent great deals of time with him lately, and his happy, albeit crazy, personality was probably just starting to rub off on her.

Honestly, it meant nothing that he was seemingly her only source of happiness. She was plenty happy hanging out with Sirius, and even Remus, upon finding out that they had a mutual interest in the politics of the magical world. Charlotte had yet to make that connection with Peter, but she was certain that she would find it somehow. She could be bitchy at times, but when she tried hard enough, she could almost pass as likable. If she didn't dampen every memory with Lily with her pretentious envy and desperate need to be better than her, than it was blatantly obvious that she was often happy in her sister's presence.

 _So really, it had nothing to do with James_ , Charlotte argued as she quietly made her way back to the common room, keeping a careful watch out for any teachers or prefects. He was just the one who was around most, and shared an understanding with her. They had solidified their friendship in their most recent interactions, and it shed perspective on Charlotte's thoughts of him. She was comfortable in his presence and even, at times, welcomed it. She more than welcomed it really, she looked forward to it. He was a fun charismatic person to be around, somehow balanced with someone who was incredibly compassionate and loyal.

 _Okay, so it was about him._ She sighed deeply, looking around a corner before holding her lightly lit wand out and stepping quickly into the hallway. It had a lot to do with James, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. He was a good friend. Good person in general. There is nothing wrong by being unaccountably happy by someone smiling at you was there? Charlotte knew that James would probably die of happiness if Lily spared him a smile. Then again, he claimed he cared for her a lot more than Charlotte cared for James.

Charlotte was over thinking it all, and that was the truth of the matter. Surely most patronus' were cast with the memory of a dear friend, so it wasn't at all surprising that hers waas. All she had to do, was look at in a different light, then everything was clear. James was her friend, and there was nothing more on the matter. She found memories with him to be happiest, because he was a happy person, and she enjoyed his presence, as a friend.

Yes, that's all it was. There's simply no other explanation for it.

* * *

 **Hi everyone !**

 **Can you believe I gave up fanfiction for 4 weeks? Yup, didn't read or write fanfiction for a whole month. What did I do in that time? Watched Netflix XD**

 **Thanks everyone for your reviews last chapter! It's very encouraging when I hear your opinions, both positive and negative.**

 **I finished this chapter before I took a break from fanfiction, and I'm only uploading it now because I've hit a major wall. I sat down the other night, intending to spend a good few hours writing, and I came up with nothing. Absolutely nothing.** ** _So_** **until I find inspiration, you'll have to just sit there waiting :'D**

 **Im really not sure about this chapter, so don't panic if it disappears one day (it just means its being heavily edited). That last bit for Charlotte... and her patronus... yeah it just wasn't as special as i was hoping it would be... Well, whatever... I'll still have her Animagus transfiguration to write about**

 **Did anyone else notice my story is the #1 James/OC story on fanfiction? Was that just me ? Hm…. Then again, there is only 13 James/OC stories to begin with XD**

 **Hope you enjoyed, feel free to tell me otherwise in the review section! Be safe everyone, and get out into the real world after reading this!**

 **XXXXX**


	17. Chapter 17

" _The best way to avoid disappointment, Is to not expect anything, from anyone."_

 **Chapter Seventeen.**

* * *

(~ **Charlotte** ~)

It was morning, and as expected, she didn't get a wink of sleep. Shortly after arriving at the common room, she snuck out again with the intention of heading to the library. She was unfortunately cornered when Professor McGonagall and Flitwick decided to stand in the hallway and have a nice chat in the early morning. She'd snuck behind a wall rug, and crouched to the floor, hoping quite pointlessly that they wouldn't see her. She wasted an hour of her time sitting there, waiting for them to leave, which they took their time doing.

When she _did_ reach the library, she found it was locked quite snuggly, no amount of determined _alohomora_ could open it. Sad truth was, Charlotte didn't even know if her spell was working, all she knew was that her spell wasn't managing to budge the securely locked entrance to the library. Now there _had_ to be another entrance to the library, however she didn't manage to bring James with her, and he was the only one she'd assume had the knowledge of secret doors in Hogwarts.

So, after wasting a considerable amount of time trying to get into the library, she ended up heading back to Gryffindor tower, trudging along in an annoyed and tired state. She didn't even bother to cover up the sound from her footsteps, she was _that_ disappointed. All she wanted to do, was lookup the characteristics of a leopard. It was apparently too much to ask.

She'd ignored the fat lady as she reprimanded her for being out so late, knowing that she would never tell a teacher, and walked into the common room, taking the steps up to the girl's dorms two at a time. When she got to her and Lily's dorm, she quietly opened and closed the door, falling face first into the cloudy softness of her bed, welcoming it quite gladly, though her night had been an utter mess. Clothes were a forgotten memory as she snoozed in the day-before uniform, hoping Lily would happily _scourgify_ it when she awoke.

It had been what felt like minutes, before Lily's muggle alarm blared throughout their dorm, forcing Charlotte to jump up from her bed in a panic, landing on the wooden flooring in a mess of hair, sheets and dirty clothes. At Charlotte's loud groan, Lily muttered something, which Charlotte was sure was rude, before trotting (patronus pun) off into the bathroom. Charlotte didn't need a mirror to know it likely looked as though someone had punched her eyes. Whenever she'd had more than two nights of restless sleep, _or none at all_ , underneath her eyes turned black, and she looked like death walking.

Not the most attractive of looks in the early morning light.

As punishment for being out all night, as Lily has unfortunately noticed, Charlotte was left to _scourgify_ her own uniform. It worked, to an extent. She definitely smelt cleaner, and the streak stains of last night's dinner were gone, however her top and skirt remained crinkled.

With a sigh, one of defeatment, Charlotte stole one of Lily's spare ties, loosely knotted it over her blouse, and pulled on her sweater. Her blazer was just… Disgusting, so she also borrowed Lily's spare blazer, miffed that Lily had _spares_. Charlotte had spares, but they were old spares. Shirts sizes too small and her grey skirt with the hole in it. Charlotte took a quick glance in the mirror, and wasn't surprised to find the blazer was an inch too short on her arms, and would not button up no matter how hard she tried.

The least she could do, was put her hair in working order. _Easier said than done_. She couldn't find a brush, comb or even fork to tame her knots. She found scissors however, and contemplated just cutting it all off. Call her vain, but she would never be able to do that.

Her last resort, was to pull her hair in a bun, having it sit at the nape of her neck. It was an awfully dull look, one you expected from old women in care, but she didn't have the energy _or effort_ to brush out her hair and curl it like so many others her age did.

Her last feat before breakfast, was packing her bag for the day, knowing that she probably wouldn't come back to the common room. Too much study, and too many Gryffindor's made for a useless common room. Her bag was heavy, filled with her potions, history of magic, DADA, transfiguration and charms textbooks, a quill and ink, some pens and some rolled up parchment used for making notes.

She really had to send an owl to their parents requesting some lined paper as Lily had suggested at the start of the year. Charlotte regretted her pride when she realised how much easier it would be to have thinly lined paper instead of the thick scratchy parchment they provided at Hogwarts. Magic school or not… they were really behind in the times.

Buttoning her bag, she gave a quick once over of her room, checking if she forgot anything, before walking swiftly out of the girl's dorm corridor. Students were just starting to wake, and she'd really rather not get caught in the traffic of the early morning.

She took the long way to the great hall, having a few spare moments to look over the grounds in appreciation before she was indoors again. It was absolutely freezing, reminding Charlotte to wear a scarf tomorrow. It was also the icy wind which brought Charlotte to the realization that she'd forgotten her robes.

 _Brilliant_

The great hall had only a few souls loitering its seats, the majority of teens still in bed. Not all teachers were present, quite a few likely eating in their own rooms. They had that _luxury_. Like every morning, Gryffindor table had the least students present. Charlotte could appreciate that small accomplishment, for it allowed her to find some space where she could sit alone without approaching upon others and _generally_ , one look from Charlotte was enough for other students to keep their distance.

Half dragging her legs behind her, she sat on the bench, taking off her bag and heaving it fall to the floor with a resounding thud. _It really was quite heavy_. Unlike other meals, where food was already prepared before everyone, house elves were popping in out of the room, quickly bringing in all the usual treats of the morning. It was quite a sight, and Charlotte often mused to Lily that she missed out by waiting for Alice in the mornings, who took a considerably longer time to get ready.

A small elf popped in, just across from her, carrying a plate of steaming hot cinnamon scrolls and a jug of warmed milk. Charlotte's mood lifted instantly, and she offered the wee thing a small smile in gratitude, knowing from experience that they never liked it when she said it out loud. The elf put the items on the table, avoiding Charlotte's gaze, and popped right out of the room.

Charlotte sighed, and grabbed a scroll. When it was this fresh, it still had the stickiness from the brushed on sugar. It was the only thing that warmed her heart on mornings such as this, giving her the energy to get through her classes without causing mass murder.

She nimbly chewed on the treat as she thought over the best way to tell James of her patronus. On the one hand, she could state it quite simply, or, she could be creative and drop hints…

"Morning!" Charlotte jumped in her seat, half choking on her scroll and knocking down the goblet of warm milk she'd poured for herself. It took her a good few seconds to force herself to swallow properly, and begin breathing again. By that time, Sirius has sat beside her on the bench and was still laughing loudly at her reaction.

"Salazar Sirius, are you trying to give me a heart attack?" Charlotte seethed, glaring him down as she tried to clean up the large spill before her. To his credit, he also helped, pulling his wand out and casting a quick scourgify across the contents of the table. Charlotte glared at him again, before turning to her half eaten scroll, her appetite stolen away by the memory of having the beautiful cinnamon scroll blocking her only path to her lungs.

Sirius chuckled again, a fair bit quieter this time, as he grabbed toast and eggs that the house elves had since brought over.

"Believe me Charlotte, the last thing that's on my mind is _breaking_ your heart." Naturally, Sirius winked, and quite happily went back to his food preparation.

"Well that's comforting," Charlotte muttered. She couldn't even tell if he was flirting, and that worried her more than the idea that he _was_ flirting with her. She eyes him carefully, taking in the carefree way he pilled his plate, using a hand every few seconds to brush back the hair that fell in his eyes. His hair was brushing against his shoulders, testimony to the idea that he _really_ needed a haircut. "Can I help you?" She asked with a sigh, physically turning to face him.

It was a little odd to have him sit beside her, not that she thought he had cooties or anything as ridiculous. He just always seemed to sit across from her, leaving the seat to James, never actually beside her.

Being this close, she could see him far easier, and she was starting to notice small details she hadn't before. His long black hair was in messy waves, freshly washed apparently. He'd shaven recently, the stubble he often sported gone for the moment, leaving a freshly smooth face that made him seem younger than he was, and gave his jaw more definition, _if that was even possible._ He smelt of…Charlotte rolled her eyes when she recognized the aroma of whiskey, even _she_ had the forethought to cast a few spells so she didn't reek of her night before behaviour like he did.

Sirius turned slightly to face her, as she did, meaning they were facing each other with a distance that seemed to close every second they remained in that position. Charlotte had to wonder how she always managed to get herself into this same situation, and why it often seemed to be with Sirius.

"You know," Sirius said, raising his brows and leaning forward. He rested his head on his hand, using the table for support, an action Charlotte couldn't help but find a little humorous, especially considering he was a little too tall, so he was leaning down to do so. Sirius seemed oblivious to it _however_ , quite content to smirk appreciatively at Charlotte. "you ask me that quite a lot, and my answer _never_ varies."

Charlotte was aware of that, _actually._

"I'm aware your answer doesn't change, I'm waiting for the day it does," she grumbled, turning away from Sirius and back towards her plate, which still only had her half eaten, _choked on,_ cinnamon scroll.

She pretended to observe the scroll carefully as she thought over Sirius' game. Assuming that's what it was. Charlotte wasn't one for small talk. It was awkward, uncomfortable and just about the most annoying thing anyone could start with her, which is why she generally began a conversation with someone by asking ' _can I help you.'_

Thankfully, most people took the hint. Those fortunate enough to not actually know her, generally went on there way after a half muttered _'never mind'._ It didn't really bother Charlotte, because, until James and Sirius showed up, she was content with being alone. Not happy, but content.

Which is why it annoyed her to no end when Sirius would always, _always_ answer Charlotte's question with something mildly suggestive. Sometimes, he didn't even have to say anything, one look was enough for her to roll her eyes and wish she'd never opened her mouth.

Most of the time, she didn't mind it, but lately, for the past few days, it became annoying. Just yesterday, she'd ignored him at breakfast after he'd made a comment about something in particular that she could ' _help_ him with.' He'd earned an annoyed look from James, a chuckle from Peter, and if Remus had been around, she was sure he'd probably roll his eyes, with a half smile barely touching his lips.

She couldn't even _name_ what she was annoyed about. Sirius was a flirt, constantly. It was no surprise that half of what Charlotte said would be morphed into something evocative. Yet it _still_ annoyed her, and it annoyed her that she was annoyed. Sirius flirted with EVERYONE. Godric, the amount of inappropriate things she'd heard him say to Remus and James _alone_ , should be enough to know it was never anything personal. It's who is he, and she didn't mind that.

So why did it suddenly affect her?

"I'm just here for breakfast Charlotte." Charlotte tuned out of her musings and looked at Sirius, who was pouring himself some coffee, and was seemingly unaffected by her clear annoyance. He took a sip of the scalding drink and have Charlotte a small smile, tilting his head slightly as he observed her expression, which was one of confusion if she could guess. "James, Pete and Remus are all still snoozing."

Charlotte nodded slowly, silently wanting to poke her eye out with her wand. Why was she so stupid sometimes? _Of course_ he just wanted some breakfast. Not _everything_ and _everyone_ had an ulterior motive for being in her vicinity. It was possible for people to do normal things with her, so really why was she always so suspicious.

As Charlotte watched him shrug and turn back to his drink, she felt unbidden guilt for her immature attitude as of late. "Oh, well…" Charlotte awkwardly coughed and scratched her head as Sirius turned to look at her curiously, no doubt seeing she was fishing for something to say. "Sleep well?"

 _Good Charlotte,_ she thought, rolling her eyes. Avoid small talk by starting small talk.

"I had a fantastic dream, want to hear it?"

Charlotte _was_ going to say ' _sure, why not,'_ but the smirk and wrinkle around his eyes made her hesitate. She watched as his eyes travelled downwards for a second, and she almost audibly gulped as they rose back to her eyes. _Was it hot in here?_

"I'm not sure I do," Charlotte muttered, quite calmly considering the circumstances. She turned back to her plate, a hand reaching her tie and pulling it away from her neck in a desperate attempt to allow more airflow into her lungs. She finally got the thing loose and, quite unlike her, let it hang loosely above her sweater.

"Either am I." It wasn't even necessary for Charlotte to look over to know his eyes were on her, and he was probably smirking victoriously. _Asshole._ "How's your patronus going?" At his genuine interest, she peaked in his direction, and found him to be munching away on a sandwich, his legs crossed on the bench, his body in her direction.

It reminded her that she'd actually been thinking about her patronus before this _oaf_ scared the cinnamon scroll out of her. She looked down towards her hands, and cupped them together, her lips dancing between a smile and a frown as she thought about the leopard that bounded out of her wand as though it broke free from a cage.

"Not too bad," Charlotte said eventually, shrugging her shoulders. Unbeknownst to her, Sirius was quite observant of the little smile on her face.

"You did it, didn't you!" Sirius yelled, dropping his sandwich on the plate and swinging his arms out towards her. The loud decibel of his voice was grating enough for the still half asleep Gryffindors and Ravenclaws, to bring a few students to their attention, several eyes curiously and exasperatedly turning to see what Sirius Black could be so excited about _this_ early in the morning.

"Hush Sirius!" She beckoned with a frown, pulling his arms down. He frowned and gave her puppy dog eyes, an obvious plight making her roll her eyes. She didn't even realise she was smiling until he was as well. "And yes, I cast my patronus," Charlotte said quietly, the small smile not managing to leave yet.

"Knew you could do it. You're a strong witch Charlotte, even if you don't believe it, _yet._ " Charlotte was rather touched by his words, and the honestly proud expression on his face, even if most of the students their age could already cast a patronus.

"Thanks Sirius." Her voice was soft, meek and one filled with surprise, but it was genuine, and Sirius heard it.

They shared a smile, and it was Charlotte who turned away first.

"So what is it? Toad?" Sirius asked with an impish smile and waggle of his brows before taking a ginormous bite out of his sandwich.

" _Charming,"_ Charlotte said with a laugh, rolling her eyes and facing him. She studied his expectant expression, and was surprised to find how genuine it was. Though he had joked around, he _truly wanted_ to know what her patronus was. Though she could have just told him, she felt that spark of challenge, excitement, within her, and instead found herself sighing and shaking her head mockingly. "I'm really not sure I want to tell you now."

"Don't be cheeky now, you have to tell me," Sirius reprimanded, that smirk still on his lips. His eyes were brighter and she had the feeling he knew what she was doing. It wasn't often Charlotte was _playful,_ and it seemed Sirius was more than happy to roll along with it.

"I don't _have_ to do anything," Charlotte replied, leaning forward and waggling her brows in the same way he had so many times before. She watched as he observed the action with amusement. _Obviously_ she hadn't done it as well as he did. His eyes returned to hers, and she was starting to forget about what they were actually talking about, the longer this staring competition went on.

"You'll tell me." At this, Charlotte raised a brow, daring him to explain. Sirius got the message. His legs uncrossed and fell over each side of the bench. Slowly, without Charlotte actually recognizing that he was moving, he scooted closer to her. She wasn't watching how far away he was though, she was watching the excitement in his eyes and the curve of his smirk. "You'll tell me, willingly or… _unwillingly_."

Her brows rose at that, and she let out a humourless laugh. "Is that a threat _Black_ ," she asked, paying extra attention to how she pronounced his name. Saying every letter slowly. His eyes were on her lips as she did this, and she could have sworn he moved closer.

"Think of it as a promise," he said, just above a whisper, his stormy eyes meeting hers again. After a few moments a softness appeared in place of the bright excitement she'd seen grow before. After she got out of that heavy gaze and their little game came to an end, she found herself smiling, watching distractedly as more students piled into the great hall, loudly complaining about their day's events.

"A leopard." Charlotte's announcement was sudden, and she wasn't surprised when Sirius sent her a stupefied look. He obviously hadn't been expecting that she would tell him after all that _fuss._

"Leopard huh?" Sirius said, looking at her with his brows furrowed. Charlotte wondered if he actually knew a thing or two about leopards, anything about their characteristics that he was trying to compare her to. She realised that it was clear he didn't when his eyes trailed downwards and up, a smirk growing on his lips. "I can see that."

"Honestly," Charlotte muttered, rolling her eyes. In the process of averting her eyes from Sirius, she met the eyes of her sister, who sat further down the table with Alice and a Gryffindor boy across from the two girls. Her sister sent her a small, hesitant smile. Not knowing what the look meant, Charlotte just frowned.

"What! I can see it!" Charlotte turned back to Sirius, raising a brow. "Leopards are beautiful creatures." He almost said it mockingly, and Charlotte had to reserve the urge to whack him upside the head.

"Stop it Sirius. You're making me blush." Charlotte returned sarcastically. Her eyes could barely refrain from rolling inside her head at his poor attempt at a compliment.

Sirius, in turn, snickered, grabbing a piece of toast and being content _for the moment_ to sit in comfortable silence. He eventually filled it with the re-telling of why _exactly_ Professor Kettelburn had an uncanny dislike for him. Charlotte had tried to block him out, and just nod when appropriate, but the story was quite funny.

She ended up leaning on the table, her head resting on her hands, legs crossed on the wooden bench, listening intently. She'd barely noticed when both James and Peter sat opposite her, also listening with interest at what could have captivated Charlotte's attention so clearly, for neither had seen her so interested in just listening. Charlotte glanced over them for a moment, sharing a small smile with James before turning back to listen to Sirius.

"So you saying, you managed to do all this, but didn't land in detention?" Charlotte asked with a gaped mouth. How was it that this idiot could almost _kill_ a professor, and he got off with diddly squat, and Charlotte received a double detention in second year, from the _same professor,_ for speaking out of turn.

"Well, not quite," Sirius admitted, rubbing his neck with a soft laugh, his eyes awkwardly glancing around the table, before looking back at Charlotte, who was waiting expectantly for his reply.

"He was kicked off the Quidditch team, for the rest of the year," James said, before Sirius could find a way to put it delicately. Sirius seemed to wince, as though the pain of his punishment was still fresh. Though it seemed more for James' sake then anyone's, for he looked the most miffed about the situation. "It made for a ruddy year against Ravenclaw, I can tell you that."

Charlotte nodded understandingly, though she'd yet to _actually_ watch Quidditch. If anything, Charlotte thought his punishment should have been worse. Banned from Quidditch for _life_ kind of worse. Not that she would wish a punishment on her friend, but honestly, what else is to be expected when you put the life of a teacher in danger?

Not unlike her, Charlotte became lost in her thoughts, and she became absent from the conversation at the table. When she reigned herself back to the present time, she was quite surprised to find that there wasn't a conversation happening. There was silence, from all three boys, and it was the most awkward thing to happen since the first time James hugged her. Though there was silence, that didn't lessen the conversations that seemed to be going on. With the annoyed looks James was giving Sirius, and the helpless ones Sirius gave in return, you'd think they were conversing through legilimency.

"Well, I suppose it's just testimony to how valuable you are to the Gryffindor Quidditch team, right?" Charlotte suddenly argued obtaining the attention of the group, all giving her an odd look. She looked at Sirius and smirked, raising her brows. "I'd take it as a compliment that they didn't do well when you weren't playing."

"I didn't say we weren't doing well!" James argued pointing in between Sirius and Charlotte, the two seemingly locked in a non-verbal conversation of their own. Sirius understood what she was trying to do, it was clear by the appreciative smile he gave her, no matter how small. "We just weren't at our best," James grumbled, well aware that no one was really paying attention.

Charlotte had taken to packing up her breakfast stuff, and was searching for something in her bag, Sirius was watching her with a smile, all the while finishing up his sandwich and Pete was watching the two with cinched suspicious eyes. James slumped in his seat and sighed, not use to the odd dynamics of the group.

"Well I'm off," Charlotte said to the boys, standing up from the table. She had around 40 minutes before their first lesson, and she seemed rather intent on getting in early and finishing up some homework which is due. McGonagall would _not_ appreciate her walking into class empty handed. "Be good," she said with a smirk and rare wink, at the group, before walking off.

Charlotte took a peek back at the group as she made her way out of the great hall, and frowned when she was Sirius and James talking heatedly. Neither had a particularly pleasant expression on their faces, and Pete seemed the most distressed out of all of them. She'd paused her gait, and a few students bumped into her causing a bit of hussle. Charlotte apologised and as always, they walked on their way without taking a second to spare her a glance. Charlotte sighed, and continued out of the great hall.

What was _that_ about? Charlotte wondered, thinking about the expression on James' face, who she had seen far clearer than Sirius'. He seemed aggravated. Surely it wasn't because of the whole Quidditch thing? That was two years ago… rather ridiculous to hold onto a grudge for that long over something so silly.

She tossed the memory of the morning aside and focused on her classes for the day. She even went so far as to sit alone in the classes and meals that she could, ensuring there were no... distractions.

It came as quite a surprise during dinner, the following day, when James said that, that night would be a good night for their 'deal'. They couldn't decide on the right location, and James ended up ushering her into the boy's dorm, right into his bedroom, assuring her that none of the boys would be stopping by at any point. It brought back the memory of the last time she'd been there, and she could say with all certainty that she was blushing quite a bit, especially when her eyes managed to land on James' messy bed.

Time wasn't lost however, and they set out straight away on the potions list James presented to her. Complex to the point of impossibility, not unlike the Animagus book she had, she'd spent some time discussing where and how she could obtain all these ingredients.

"James?" Charlotte asked, biting her lip as she looked over the list. When she received no reply, she looked up to find that he was quite lost in his own thoughts. Her smile quirked as she looked over his dazed expression, and she leaned a little closer to the bed.

"James," Charlotte sung with a smile. It dropped when his deadpan expression remained rested on his face, and his eyes seemed content to stare at the wall for eternity. She rolled her eyes and cupped her lips, taking a deep breath in.

"JAMES!"

"Yes sir!" James said, startled and almost falling of the perch from which he sat on the bed. His eyes furrowed in confusion, but realization hit when he looked at Charlotte. A brow was raised at his odd reply, and she saw he was struggling with his words to redeem himself. "Sorry… Ma'am?"

Charlotte snickered and put the list aside a moment, looking over James as he ran a languid hand over his face and through his hair, all in one fluid motion. Quite simply, he looked exhausted. If Charlotte thought she had looked bad that morning, James looked surprisingly worse. The dark circles underneath his eyes and pale face made him look thin and unwell, but from appearances he just seemed tired. It was the way he was acting that was odd.

She'd noticed he wasn't acting completely normal that morning, when he and Peter had joined Charlotte and Sirius at breakfast, but brushed it off as some sort of adverse reaction to being awake too early and then there had been the odd argument with Sirius that had occurred after she left.

"What's going on with you?" She asked, tucked her legs underneath her and resting her arm on her knees so she could perch her chin there and still look at James from the same position. "Other than your clear distraction of course."

He opened his mouth slightly, frowned, closed his mouth and shook his head. "Sorry, just tired. What were you saying?" He gave one more shake of his head, as though warding away a thought, and gave her a small apologetic smile, before brushing back his hair that landed in his eyes.

He was worried, that was clear as day. James was never one to dress impeccably, but he always looked somewhat respectable (it was really only his hair that let him down). Today, he looked like he was wearing yesterday's clothing, seeming to skip over the sleeping aspect of the night and just rolled into the next day. It had gotten worse over the day. That morning, she'd only noticed his loose tie. Now his shirt was wrinkled, one sleeve of his sweater was rolled while the other remained at his wrist. He'd forgone his robe and there was dirt on his pants.

His non-physical signs were far more worrying. His obvious distraction, conflict with Sirius the previous morning and lack of interest in Animagus were headliners to whatever was going on underneath that mop of hair. Her eyes roamed over him once more, seeing that he, for the moment, was focused on her.

"I was telling you my life story," Charlotte said with a sigh, leaning back, pulling out her wand and twirling it in her hands absently. "The greatest hits of Charlotte A Evans."

"Really?" He asked, a brow raised. He leaned forward, instantly interested in what she had to say. Charlotte found herself rolling her eyes, tucking her wand away and holding up the list, waving it around.

"No you idiot, I was asking if I could use Dittany in place of Asphodel." Typically, James rolled his eyes, a half smile on his face. If he was disappointed that Charlotte hadn't been revealing anything personal, he hid it well.

"Oh, no. That's a terrible idea. You're going to have to find a way to get your hands on some Asphodel." _Easier said than done_ , Charlotte thought to herself. She'd never even heard of Asphodel, she only knew it was some sort of weed, or plant. "That'd be terrible. Think trying to become an Animagus, then transfiguring and being stuck half way through."

Charlotte pictured having leopard ears and a tail, but everything else remained as it were. She welcomed the shudder that rolled through her spine at the thought. A terrible idea indeed!

"Right…" Charlotte looked back at the list, using her quill to quickly scribble NECESSARY beside the potion ingredient. She continued asking questions about the ingredients, and James was helpful, to a point. He was still distracted. If he wasn't distracted, he certainly believed the damn wall to be more interesting than her, an insult to the both of them really.

"How are things going with Lily?" Charlotte found herself asking, an attempt to pinpoint his anxiety. When his head shot her way, and all trace of whatever he had been thinking before seemed to disappear, she couldn't help the smile that broached her lips. "Ah, I see I have found the source of your distraction." _Or at least part of it._ It seemed hard to believe it was all about Lily.

James sighed, using a hand to ruffle his hair, Charlotte's eyes watching the movement carefully, crinkling in mirth when his hair, though seeming to fall in soft waves at times, stuck up at all sorts of angles. "Honestly Charlotte, not much has changed. There is hardly any interaction between us, but I suppose now it's all positive, or at least not negative." Charlotte nodded slowly, an action James took suspiciously.

She really didn't want to talk about Lily, at least not with James, not right now. She'd been doing her part, even though she had adamantly told him she wouldn't say a word to her sister. She didn't want to give him false hope, making him excited about something that wasn't there. Lily didn't _like_ James, but she didn't seem to hate him.

"Has she spoken about me at all?" Charlotte bit her lip, watching as James expectantly watched her, almost falling off the bed in anticipation. She opened her mouth, but felt it close almost instantly. "Chaaaaarlotte?" James goaded, his hand gripping his chest as though the pain of his waiting was just that, pain.

She sighed, shaking her head "Yes. Okay, yes she has."

When she said nothing more, James fell to the floor beside her, scaring her out of her wits. He gripped her shoulders and shook them softly. "Your stranding me in a place of agony!"

"Oh don't be melodramatic, it's unattractive." Charlotte said, swiping his hands off of her shoulders and ignoring the grin on his face at her teasing. At the same time, she also shuffled backwards, giving them a bit of space between them. She felt something soft underneath her skirt, and pulled out what appeared to be a shirt. She thought to throw it on his bed, but the odd smell coming off of it made her pause. She looked closely, and felt her eyes widen to the size of the Quidditch field when she realised it was a _girls_ shirt. Not just a shirt, but a lacy singlet. "She's sure its all a game," Charlotte said quickly, tossing the shirt on his bed and wiping her hands down her skirt, willing her hands to be clean. Godric, she felt dirty just _touching_ the shirt.

James was looking across the room, his back to his bed and his mind in deep concentration. Charlotte was in disbelief, and couldn't refrain from flicking between studying James, and the shirt sitting near his pillow. She had known, _still knew_ , that James was no social pariah, especially with the female population of Hogwarts and she _knew_ what that meant, she was still surprised, and perhaps a little disgusted. He raved on and on about his feelings for Lily, never saying the 'L' word, but she'd stopped his rants a few times when she saw it was headed that way.

Were all boys like this? Proclaiming their feelings for one woman, whilst shagging another? If it were Sirius, she'd find it typical, because he never tried to hide who he was, probably why she and Sirius got on so well. James however, had said on more occasions than one, that he no longer dated other girls. Perhaps dating had a different meaning to… whatever this was.

Charlotte wasn't even sure if this was normal or not, as all she'd really known of romance was from Lily or books. Books were more interesting, and didn't send her to sleep quite so quickly, but she'd heard enough about Lily's dates and 'flings' to know that girls at Hogwarts sleeping around wasn't nearly as common as boys. Charlotte hadn't seen James hang around any other girls recently, though… now that she thought of it, other groups of people did sit close by the boys whenever she chose to sit elsewhere. She'd never really been offended by it, rather seeing it to be typical, but it did make her wonder who he and Sirius hung out with when she wasn't around.

Why did it feel like James had lied to her when, in actuality, it was none of her business whether he slept with none, or all the girls at Hogwarts? So she tried to tell herself it wasn't her business, but every time she glanced over at James, and watched him run a hand through his hair to push it aside, her brows dropped, her chest felt heavy, and she wanted to run from the room.

"Which is a good thing! When we prove her wrong, she'll see a side of you she hadn't before." Charlotte hurried out, sending one more glance to the shirt on his bed before looking at James with a very fake smile that was meant to be encouraging.

"Right…" James said with, what Charlotte guessed as, a fair amount of uncertainty. Charlotte forcibly pushed the shirt, AND ALL thoughts of James and another girl together… in bed, aside. _Not my business. Not my business. Not my business._ A part of her felt like storming from the room, declaring she didn't give a rat's ass who James shagged, but she couldn't work out why, and if she didn't know why she wanted to do something, it was always best to do the complete opposite of that thing. "Quidditch game tomorrow night…"

Charlotte looked at James with furrowed brows, and couldn't help the sharp tone that bled through next. "What about it?"

She winced and sent him an apologetic look, not meaning to act like a bloody ass. Their deal aside, James was foremost Charlotte's friend. Should she be telling him exactly what she thought about what he was doing? That he was likely ruining his chances with Lily, their deal and quite possibly their friendship.

 _Not my business._

"Will you come?" Charlotte gave him a look, and he sighed, shaking his head. Charlotte observed him underneath her lashes, and was surprised to find he seemed genuinely disappointed that she clearly didn't have an interest in his passion. If he seemed this disappointed about Charlotte not caring for Quidditch, she had to ask how he would react when he found out that Lily despised the sport.

' _Sweaty boys bashing each other around with bats whilst flying around in the air?"_ Charlotte could almost imagine her sister remarking with a firm brow and dangerous smirk. _'Please, id rather face a dementor_. _' The_ irony was, Lily had actually said these very words to her, not a few months back. Alice was interested in Frank, and Frank was on the Team. Obviously that means she's required to attend every game. Lily couldn't be moved though and unfortunately, for Alice, her stand was only strengthened by Charlotte's passing comment that she wasn't interested either. Lily has turned to Alice, her brows raised as though to say 'see, Charlotte agrees with me.' Typically, this resulted in a back and forth argument that Charlotte's opinion didn't count considering she's never seen the sport.

End result, Lily begrudgingly went beside Alice, and complained for days on end that it was the most ridiculous thing since You-Know-Who. Charlotte held no passion for Quidditch, but even she had to comment that _that_ was a possible overreaction.

"Come on Charlotte, please." James' whining brought her out of the disturbing imagery of sweaty dementor's and you-know-who flying around on brooms. Charlotte shook her head, almost laughing at her vivid imagination. "Both Sirius and I really want you to come!"

Charlotte studied his face with a frown. She'd accepted they were friends, and _apparently_ attending games where said friends were playing in, seemed to be written along the dotted lines. She wouldn't go so far as to say, she had no choice, but she certainly felt required to attend, and she certainly wasn't enthusiastic. But…James was. He seemed hopeful and slightly excited at the thought of charlotte coming, which seemed ridiculous. Sirius certainly didn't seem to care that much if she went.

Well, perhaps that wasn't true…he had mentioned it on passing several times during the week. Just a blatant comment here and there that he was practicing for the 'big game' or 'wondering if many people would come to watch.' Charlotte just mumbled an answer that made it seem like she was remotely interested. What if that had been his subtle way of asking her to come, without actually asking her.

"Well, alright then." Charlotte said with a nod, finalizing it in her head with a wince. She didn't really know what to expect going to the game, considering all she really knew was what Lily told her. Though Charlotte was a fair flier back in the day, it had never even entered her mind to try out for Quidditch, watch Quidditch or show any interest in the sport at all. After stealing the broom back in third year, having not flown since the end of first, and being caught with it, shed been reluctant to approach the sport at all. If she was honest, she probably didn't care for the sport because Lily didn't. That's certainly why she didn't at first.

"Good." James said with a firm nod. Charlotte gave him a smile and looked back towards the list, biting on the end of her quill, the shirt at the back of her mind. According to the rough parchment James had scribbled on, she would need to hold a mandrake leaf in her mouth for a month. She could feel her gag reflex becoming threateningly active, even as she thought of the screaming plant which stunk like rotten dragon eggs. "So…"

Charlotte looked back up and frowned at his awkward paraphrasing. "So?" Charlotte said with a quirked brow, looking back towards the list, though she kept her thoughts on James.

"You and Sirius huh?" He said nonchalantly, giving her a quick look before pulling out a Quidditch magazine from underneath his pillow. Charlotte forced her face to remain passive as she kept studying the list.

"Just what exactly are you trying to ask with that rather broad statement that is clearly suggesting something?" She replied with a half smile, trying to remain as comical as possible. If he was suggesting, what Charlotte assumed he was suggesting, she'd rather not talk about it.

"It's pretty clear that there is something going on." James said, not looking up from the Quidditch magazine which was upside down. Charlotte had to stifle her laughter, trying to remain as serious as possible. He was clearly fishing for _something_ Charlotte just didn't know what it was. He was suggesting that something was going on between Sirius and Charlotte, which was probably the most ridiculous notion Charlotte had heard since Lily suggested she 'get out more'.

"No idea what your-" Charlotte began with a sigh, shortly being interrupted by James throwing his magazine behind him.

"Charlotte, don't play me _or him_ for a fool." He said sternly, frowning and facing her directly. Charlotte put the list down, as well as the quill, shock probably showing on her face as her eyes met his.

"I'm… I'm not." Charlotte barely got out with a stutter. Usually she would reprimand herself from the hesitant weak answer, but she really had no idea what he was so worked up about. If anything, she found his dramatics rather humorous if not confusing. "Where did that come from?" She couldn't help the harsh deflective tone that came out. Even if she knew what he was talking about, as she was quite sure she didn't now, she hardly believed it deserved him snapping at her like that.

And now that she thought of it, there was one or two things she could easily snap at him about. Her eyes travelled to his bed, and the lacy singlet caught her eye.

"Just… Be honest with yourself, and him. If you don't feel anything for him, tell him that, otherwise he'll just assume you do fancy him."

"Woah oh oh….Fancy Sirius?!" Charlotte cried, her eyes wide. She easily tossed aside the list, and jumped up from where she was sitting so she could look at him head on. With a reprimanding and forceful hand, she pointed at James with a harsh glare, making sure her next words were as clear as day. "I do not fancy Sirius." The look on James' face didn't change, as though he felt like he couldn't believe a word Charlotte was saying. She couldn't work out if she felt more hurtful by the accusation or embarrassed. Why, she couldn't tell, as it wasn't necessarily a bad thing to fancy Sirius, she just didn't.

She had entertained the thoughts of a crush, but she hardly had the feelings he seemed to think she did. She shut her eyes for a moment, sure she was going to regret telling him this."I will admit, there may be a tiny… _crush_. Tiny. Minuscule. and there _may_ be some flirting, but he's my friend. That's all."

"Are you telling the truth? Charlotte." Charlotte glared with a force she didn't even think possible at his reprimanding tone. What about her possibly fancying Sirius, would warrant James treating her like a child. More to the point, it wasn't any of his business, friend or not.

"Oh, for _fuck_ sake," Charlotte muttered to herself, shaking her head. "I don't fancy Sirius," Charlotte deadpanned, making a very obvious point of turning back to the list which she had tossed aside. She sat back down and let the silence settle around the room.

"Good." Charlotte looked at James and raised a brow at his answer, seeing the satisfied expression he had and the way he was nodding his head. He seemed to realize what Charlotte was looking at, as he coughed and scratched the back of his neck, trying to amend his answer to sound a little less careless. "I mean, good because he doesn't fancy you. Not that he wouldn't, because your nice and stuff." Charlotte rose both brows and felt her lip curling the bare minimum into a smile. "I mean… Shut up."

Charlotte rolled her eyes and snickered "You're too easy." She was still pissed, but it was apparent, now more than ever, that she couldn't stay that way for long, almost opposite to how she was with Lily. _Bloody Potter_

"I think you'll find in the opposite Charlotte." He said, waggling his brows ridiculously. Charlotte had to reflect for a moment, how different James and Sirius were when they did this one similar motion. On the one hand, James seemed comical, ridiculous and the tiniest bit, dare she say 'cute', waggling his brows, whereas Sirius was clearly flirting. Charlotte preferred when James did it. She felt more at ease.

"Oh please…" Charlotte muttered, rolling her eyes. They shared a smile, and Charlotte looked back at the list, getting the distinct feeling that she'd read over it more times than she could count, but only managing to actually understand it half the time. James, was once again oblivious to the world, his face morphing back into the foreign concentrated stare she'd come to recognize the past few days. "Are you going to help me with this list, or sit there taking mental photographs of the wall?"

"It's a rather pleasant wall if you come to appreciate it." James said with a smile, looking back at the wall he'd caught himself staring at several times in the last hour or two. Charlotte looked disapprovingly at the wall, but stood up and sat beside James, crossing her legs and brushing her skirt over them so they were adequately covered. He seemed slightly shocked at the action, but went back to looking at the wall, entering a daze in only a few seconds.

"Why I believe your right." Charlotte said with a wide smile, nudging her shoulder with his. When she looked over, she realised that concerned expression was back on his face, and she nudged him again to get his attention. "Is everything okay?"

James seemed hesitant to answer, it was rather clear considering how close they were sitting. Charlotte was desperately trying to not turn the situation awkward, not an easy feat considering she was suddenly engulfed in the aroma of the forbidden forest. She really had to find out why he smelled of that forest…

"I got an owl from my dad, my mums not doing too well at the moment." Charlotte felt her eyes widen and snap back to James. She hadn't been expecting that. She expected him to whine about Lily a little more, perhaps explain what he and Sirius had been talking about earlier or maybe even say nothing. She hadn't known he had a genuine reason for being so worried. "My mum, she's never sick. She's a bright person Charlotte, always moving about and doing something for someone. Well, she's gotten slower this past year, and it's got me worried."

Charlotte nodded, biting her lip as she watched James run a hand over his face. His mum was sick, sick enough that his dad would feel obliged to contact him. Charlotte's dad once had a nasty flu, but it had been over after a month, and a letter was sent after he was better, explaining what was going on. In terms of what Charlotte had experienced, his mum must be really sick. The longer she watched James, the better she understood about his relationship with his parents. He didn't talk about them, not really. Every now and then he would make a passing comment about his home, or something which had happened including his parents, but nothing in great detail. He was close with his parents, that much was obvious, and he seemed to be truly suffering at the moment from the fear he had for his mother. "And what does your dad say?"

"He says it'll pass. Nothing to worry about, but wanted to update me anyway," James said with a shrug, a helpless one at that. Charlotte felt empathy roll off of her in waves of uncomfortable silence. She didn't know what to do. From hearing Lily and Alice's conversations often, she knew that consoling him, was what she should be doing, but she didn't know how to. She didn't know his mum or dad at all, and to be perfectly honest, she didn't know him very well either. He knew a hell of a lot more about her than she knew of him, and that scared her a great deal. She didn't even know how to comfort him in a way which would make him feel better. If she said his mother would be fine, that would be a lie, as she had no idea how his mother was. If she told James something stupid about staying strong, it would just be hypocritical considering half the time she was an emotional wreck for no reason.

"I'm sure your dad's right James." Hesitantly, Charlotte put her hand on his shoulder, squeezing it gently in a show of companionship. That's what friends did right? Comforted each other like this? Whenever Lily was sad, Charlotte tended to avoid her, knowing that her sadness generally led to anger with the misuse of a single word.

It seemed to be the right action, as he looked over at her and gave her a lopsided smile. "I hope so." He said softly, mostly to himself. He sat watching her for a fair while, until he realised what he was doing. "Now let's see to this list shall we?" He clapped his hands together, ran a hand through his hair and shuffled a little closer so he could read over Charlottes shoulder. They sat that way for awhile, and Charlotte began listing her problems with some of the ingredients. It took her longer than it should have to realize he wasn't paying attention, and was once again looking at the wall with a monotonous expression.

"I cast my patronus," Charlotte said, as a hopeful point of distraction. By the way his eyes hit up and the surprised expression, she'd say it worked quite brilliantly. She offered him a small nervous smile, realizing this wasn't exactly how she had planned to tell him. She actually hadn't thought at all that she would tell him. Rather planning to spring it on him unexpectedly. She supposed this was as good to what she hoped as she could get. "Last night, actually. Almost got busted, but made it out alive."

"Charlotte! That's fantastic!" James cried, his eyes lighting up pleasantly. Charlotte couldn't help the small smile that played on her face. Though his mother's sickness suddenly felt like a plague in the back of her mind, she was grateful to see him smiling again. "Show me!"

"What?" Charlotte deadpanned, her brows quirked.

"Show me. I want to see."

On the one hand, she'd really rather not disappoint him shortly after the news he just got but she also wasn't overly enthusiastic to show off her patronus to anyone, James included, friend or not. But he just looked…so hopeful.

Charlotte's eyes twitched as she pulled out her wand, the unprecedented fear of failure hitting her in a way it hadn't before. Perhaps it was because it was her patronus, something she'd wanted and hadn't been able to obtain for years, or maybe it was because of James. His bright hazel eyes patiently watched on, anticipation clear as day. No one had placed that much raw, honest expectation for great things. It made the weight of failure feel all the more threatening. What was he expecting to emerge from her wand? Would she rise to his expectations, surpass them, or fall dreadfully short? He was just sitting there, smiling and watching her. It made her annoyed, anxious, self conscious, giddy and calm, quite simultaneously. Charlotte was quite sure she was going to be sick.

Using a hand to wipe away the sweat on her lip, noting that she shouldn't be sweating in bloody winter, she focused on her wand. The night before, she'd managed to smash the spell quite brilliantly, was it possible to do it again? She stood from the bed, walking to the centre of the dorm, her eyes travelling over ever inch she crossed, rather interested in everything in the boys room.

The one thing she noted about it all, was how messy everything was. Even Remus' bed, which she only recognized because of the last time she was there, was in a state of gradual decay. He had books piled high, clothes tossed carelessly, and even a chocolate wrapper or two, rather surprising for the young wizard, in charlotte's opinion. Sirius' had a large arrayment of clothing, and a magazine or two, but naught else. Pete's bed was probably the cleanest, and considering it was quite messy, that was something in of itself. James' bed currently had him on it, and he was watching her, looking a little less patient. If anything he looked like a young boy, waiting for a treat.

Charlotte sighed, standing near the fireplace. She scuffed her feet on the floor, bit her nail and took a deep breath, holding her wand out before her. It lay pointed at the floor, lest something other than her patronus popped out of it and she managed to injure James.

She took a breath, and thought of the happiest memory in her mind to date. It was comforting that there were a few she was uncertain of, it at least meant she was far happier than a few weeks ago. There was the time James reconciled her after Lily's embarrassing scolding in front of him, shortly after they had met. There was the trip to Hogsmeade and the evening she met Remus and Pete which ended in her downing 6 shots of firewhiskey and passing out. On second thought, that probably _wasn't_ the best night she'd experienced. She couldn't exactly call waking up with Sirius' half naked form looming over her and James walking about in just a towel good memories. Well, not the sort of good that could muster a patronus at least. James consoling her _again_ after her fight with Lily _again_. The pleasant hour or two she spent with James before her unfortunate meeting with the unconscious world. The startling realization that Lily was jealous of James, something she didn't realize was a good memory until she found herself laughing about it in Charms. Casting her first incorporeal patronus with James, the memory of their hug that same evening, and all the hugs since then.

It was then that she decided not to pick a memory. The past few weeks had been filled with more happiness than she had experienced in her 6 years at Hogwarts, and she couldn't imagine choosing between any of them. Whether it be James distracting her from her learning in class, or listening in to he and his friend's conversations at lunch, being in their _, his,_ presence made her happy.

" _Expecto Patronum_!" This time, Charlotte said the words as clearly as she had spoken to James, but a moment ago. It wasn't a whisper, clouded in fear of disappointment, nor did she shout it out, as she'd seen others in class attempt it. Because really, it didn't matter how she said it, it was the feelings behind the words that were important.

Unlike the previous night, where her leopard was a shy wisp, her patronus bounded out of her wand with an exuberance Charlotte didn't think possible, as though the leopard had been sitting in wait for hours to be free. Charlotte smiled as the leopard turning to look at her, peering at her with an un-telling curiosity, before prowling through the room. It didn't run around, as it did the night before, rather walking at a slow gait, observing everything with the same amount of appreciation Charlotte had shown when she entered the room.

Charlotte's eyes flicked over to the bed, and she sputtered when she saw James wasn't even there. She almost jumped out of her skin when she turned back and found him standing to her left, just a step in front of her.

"Bloody hell James," she whispered, mostly to herself as she felt her heart race in her chest. She turned back to the room, and found her patronus had disappeared, no doubt by her sudden fright. It would take her awhile to get the hang of concentrating enough to let the leopard freely walk around the room without her having to point her wand directly at it. Charlotte had actually heard of Wizards and Witches advanced enough in their magic who could cast their patronus and go on doing other things as their patronus followed them around, not quit unlike a pet.

"It's a leopard!" James cried, turning and grabbing onto her shoulders, shaking them slightly in his excitement. He let go and turned back towards the room, looking where the form of light had been curling around the top of Remus' bedposts. Charlotte watched him curiously, wondering what exactly he was so excited about. He was acting a wee bit more thrilled than she had, and the feeling was utterly foreign.

"That was fantastic Charlotte, I mean...really, that was quite brilliant." Charlotte tried to hide her smile, but it seemed pointless considering the situation. "Do you know what kind of Leopard?"

"No," Charlotte said with a sigh. "I'm afraid last night's escapades also involved attempting to break into the library. Either it was locked formidably, or I'm far shabbier at spells that I originally presumed." She watched with a raised brow as James rubbed the back of his neck and gave a short nervous laugh.

"Ah, about that. It was locked because Sirius, Pete and I were in the Library. Didn't exactly want any teachers wandering in now, did we?" Charlotte gave a grunt of recognition, peeved that her night had been partially ruined by whatever those idiots found befitting to enter the library before. "Hey, at least you know it wasn't your bad spellmanship," he offered as a way of condolences. Charlotte gave him an expressionless stare, letting him know wordlessly that that really didn't help.

"I would have to guess a snow leopard," Charlotte said, returning the conversation back to its original destination. "Though its really hard to tell when it's a ball of light."

"Still impressive," James said with a wide smile, causing charlotte to give him a small one in return. "Must have been quite the lesson I gave you, if you managed to cast your first corporeal within a week." Charlotte glared at his self satisfied smirk, tucking her wand away into her pocket.

"It was more than a week, and it was a good memory, not your teaching, that helped me cast it," Charlotte said with a sigh, rolling her eyes. She went to sit back on his bed, but the sight of the skimpy singlet made her backtrack her steps and sit on the end of Sirius' instead, meaning she had to push a lot of stuff out of the way, but she felt far less awkward. Strange that she would feel less awkward on Sirius' bed than James'. Either way, it gave her a straight on view of James' bed, as the beds lay directly across from each other.

Seeing her motion, James sat on the end of his bed. "Well don't be a tease charlotte, share the amazing memory that surpassed my teaching skills," James said with a smirk, his hazel eyes watching her with anticipation. "It was me wasn't it?" He guessed, waggling his eyebrows. "I'm not that surprised, considering how highly you think of me."

Charlotte snorted, loudly enough that he could hear so she could cover up the nasty blush and fear that hit her like a spell. "I'll have you know, I wasn't thinking of you at all," she said, watching as his brows raised audaciously as though daring her to tell him where this magical memory came from. "I was just going through a good memory I have stored away with my… friend."

"Well, do go on Charlotte," James replied mockingly, still smirking. He was so sure, so confident in himself that she wasn't even sure if he was joking or not. It wasn't possible that he could _actually_ know that the memory had been of him, so the only alternative was that he was joking around. Still, it annoyed her, how satisfied he looked that she was annoyed.

"Sirius," Charlotte blurted. "It was a memory with Sirius actually." Charlotte waited for his reaction, and found it to be the opposite to what she was expecting. What she had been expecting, she couldn't really tell. A roll of the eyes? Maybe a laugh? His smile dropped and he no longer seemed interested in hearing any details.

"Ah." James said simply, coughing and sitting up in his bed. Charlotte stood, a brow raised, watching as James seemed to uncomfortably process the news she'd given him. When the silence became deafening, Charlotte rolled her eyes and and sat more comfortably on the bed. "Memory aside," James said, shrugging his shoulders slightly. Charlotte felt her lips tighten at his words, and she felt her hand constrict on the Sirius sheets, crumpling it within her fist. "Your patronus _was_ brilliant."

"Thank you James." Charlotte said, standing up and moving to his bed to pick up the potions list she'd haphazardly thrown aside. She avoided his eyes and felt them burn through her as she folded up the list and tucked it in her skirt pocket. She couldn't force her mouth to smile at his praise, as the uncomfortable feeling he'd forced into the room made it a little hard to breathe. What was it with him and Sirius lately? First he was warning her off fancying him, in a rather rude fashion, now he was acting like a complete weirdo because she had said her patronus was cast with the thought of Sirius. Her mind could really only come to one conclusion.e

"James, do you have an issue with my being Sirius' friend?" She asked, watching with scrutinizing eyes for his reaction.

"What?!" he blurted, scoffing out a laugh. "Surely your joking?" When he saw that Charlotte was most certainly not joking, his face turned sober and his smile was gone. "Of course I don't, what gave you that impression?" It was how quickly he said it that made he distrust his answer.

"Honestly James," Charlotte said, rolling her eyes. "First, that awkward confrontation at breakfast. Don't try to tell me something wasn't going on, because I know there was. You tell me I should be 'honest' about fancying Sirius, but say it in such a way that seems like its an _insult_ , and now that brilliant bloody reaction to my patronus memory!"

"My reaction was normal!" he said, defending himself quite poorly. "And I only asked you to be honest because I don't want you hurting my best friend's feelings!"

"So you do have an issue!" Charlotte yelled. He had the audacity to roll his eyes and groan, rubbing his eyes with both hands. Had she been closer, she might've whacked him upside the head, but as it were, she was still on the other side of the room, not really wanting to come any closer to James at the moment, or his bed.

She understood his concern for his friend. Really, she did. Though things were a tad stale between her and Lily, there had been times where she'd felt a glimmer of protectiveness when her sister spoke about the boy she was dating. It wasn't surprising that James, who was so clearly close to Sirius in a way that she couldn't even express between her and Lily, would worry over his friend. But he made it seem like an insult that she would _dare_ have feelings for Sirius, what's more, he went on to say that it was a good thing she didn't. Perhaps she had reacted with humour at that, but it was still hurtful. Then when she tells him, or rather lies to him, about her memory which conjured her patronus, he acts all shifty and awkward.

"Look," Charlotte said, standing up from the bed and pacing towards the door, not even checking to see if James was watching her. "I understand why your averse to the idea of me… _fancying_ Sirius. He is your best friend, and its only natural to want the best for him. I just don't think you have the right to object his friendship with me. In fact, I find it to be the acts of a prat, not a friend. I can be awkward, and at times a little unconventional in the ways of sociality, but I'm not that bad a person, and I think you'll find my friendship beneficial."

Though she was prattling on about her friendship with Sirius, she had the sneaking suspicion that he wasn't the only person she was arguing would benefit from her friendship. It dawned on her mind that if James wasn't overly keen on the idea of her and Sirius being friends, that he possibly had the same feeling between him and her. It was something that she didn't want to think about, but was really at the forefront of her mind.

"For Godric's sake Charlotte," James said, sighing. "I don't 'object' to your friendship." He didn't miss a beat as he continued, fixing her with a hard stare. "I do, however, believe that you shouldn't be going _there_ with him."

"Well its not really for _you_ to say is it!" Charlotte bit back, glaring at him. Charlotte could easily admit that Sirius was a very attractive person. He used his charm well, and knew how to make a girl blush. He knew how to make Charlotte blush, and that was a damn near impossible task. There were times, where she wondered. She would be beside him, having him smile at her, and she would wonder. Her eyes met his, and she would wonder and just as it occurred this morning, they would flirt, and she would go so far as to _consider_.

It was when she reached the 'consider' stage that she realised she didn't fancy him, not really. Then when she thought on it harder, she realised she'd much rather go out with someone like Remus than Sirius. And it wasn't because Remus was more attractive, though he was good-looking in his own rights, or because he was smarter, which he clearly was, she just wasn't as close to him. It wasn't like she was best friends with Sirius or anything, but it sort of felt wrong going there…

"He is my best mate, of course I have a say in it." Charlotte gave him a look that told him quite easily that he was an idiot, and she watched as he angrily through a hand in his hair. "You and Sirius wouldn't work!"

"Why? Because he deserves someone better?" Charlotte challenged, forcing her feet to stay planted where they were, lest they stalk right up to him.

"Exactly!" James said, throwing his hands down in finality. Charlotte felt her chest constrict, and by Godric was it painful. She nodded slowly, reaching down to grab her bag that was beside the door. She put it over her shoulder and monotonously tucked the Animagus potion list into one of the pockets. When James finally realised what he said, and how it sounded, it was far too late to take back his words. That didn't stop him from trying however.

"Shit Charlotte, that isn't what I meant."

"I'm sure," Charlotte said with a laugh, that wasn't at all funny. She shook her head and gave him a sad smile. "It's okay James, I get it. I didn't fancy him anyway, so no great loss there. I'm sure someone will stoop low enough for me one day." Charlotte gave an awkward cough when she felt her voice break slightly, and she had to shake her head, forcing the leaked emotions back into her eyes. She was _not_ crying. She tried to focus more on her anger than her disappointment. She _refused_ to cry in front of James.

James jumped up from the bed and walked to Charlotte's side, his eyes wide. "I meant someone who is more… deserving of his affections. No, wait. Not deserving, just suits his attentions more. Charlotte I'm just making this worse, but it isn't what you think."

Charlotte sighed, and looked at the ceiling for a moment. James was awkward sometimes, but he was right. He was making a mess of things. "You know James," She said, bringing her head down to meet his eyes. "I have told myself since I was 12 years old, that people forgot about me because they were idiots. I told myself that, but that doesn't mean I believed it. Every time someone's eyes would pass through me, I felt it like an arrow in my chest. Every time I had a conversation with someone, only to have them zone out and ask who I was a few moments later, was like a crippling weight I was forced to carry. I told myself over and over, that I was worthy of attention, and it was everyone else who had the problem."

Charlotte laughed, running a hand through her hair, no longer looking at James. "Godric, when you sat down across from me that day in the great hall, all those weeks ago, I was so excited. So excited, because you knew who I was. You might not have known my name, or anything about me, but you knew I existed."

"Do you know what it feels like to appreciate someone knowing you exist?" She asked James, looking at the window and feeling his eyes on her. It made it harder for her to tell him this. "It beautiful and painful, at the same time."

"Charlotte-"

"James," Charlotte said with a sigh, turning to face him and forcing her face to remain neutral, even if his own expression revealed how broken she felt. "I know you didn't mean what you said, the way you said it. But you do have an issue with my friendship with Sirius and I'm sorry, but I don't care. How dare you call yourself my friend, teach me to be happy but dictate how or _who_ makes me happy. You have no say whether Sirius makes me happy." Charlotte almost felt guilt at the shame James showed as he looked to the floor.

"What if I had said it was you?" He looked up, a silent question in his eyes. "If it was you that had made me happy enough? Would you have reacted with such clear distaste?"

"Of course no-"

"Then why?" Charlotte asked, her voice breaking uncomfortably again, causing her to cough and turn her head. When he didn't answer, she sighed, muttering to herself incoherently. She opened the door, and let it slam on her way out, not really caring for the surprised looks of the other Gryffindor boys around her. Perhaps she was overreacting to it all, but all she could really think about was how excited she had been to show James her patronus, and how bloody shitty she felt about it now. The prat actually managed to make her feel bad after conjuring a patronus which is only created by good feelings.

She went to her own dorm, throwing her bag on her bed in annoyance, kicking her shoes off with enough force that they collided with Lily's beside lamp. Oh well. She is a bloody witch, if she really needs light, she can just bloody cast it. Her hand wouldn't stop running through her hair, and it was pissing her off, because that's what he did. Growling, she stalked to her bed and fell face first into the sheets. She stayed like this until she had to turn her head to breathe, at which point she wasn't angry anymore.

Charlotte heaved a sigh, and shuffled her feet into some canvas shoes that were beside her bed. Grumbling, she forced her way out of the girl's dorms, accidentally shoving into 2 or three girls on her way past. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she turned to the right and began walking up the stairs to the boy's dorms. She felt bad for some reason, and had every intention of going up and apologizing. 5 steps away from the top of the stairs, she had to pause and ask herself what she was doing.

James was the one who made _her_ feel like shit, and she was going to apologize because she made him feel bad? It was the stairs that recognized where her thoughts were leading first, and she had to desperately leap to the top of the stairs, holding onto the balustrade as the stairs came out beneath her, so all that remained was a smooth surface where steps had been but a second before, perfect for forcing her not to do what she was thinking.

She pulled herself up, after much groaning and cursive complaining, and stormed to the boy's dorm, not bothering to knock as she forced her way in.

James looked wide eyed as he sprung up on his bed. He'd been lying down with his hands on his face when she'd barged her way in, and when he realised who it was, jumped in both surprise and worry. At least, that's what she took his expression as.

"I can choose to snog, fancy, date and shag whoever in England I bloody well desire. If that happens to be Sirius Black, then you better bloody believe that your disapproval is not only undesired, but won't stop me for a single moment. You're not my keeper _Potter_ , you're not my family, not my brother, and right now… not my friend. You are the unfortunate boy who happens to fancy my sister and friend of Sirius, who is happens to be my _friend_."

James eyes dropped, and she couldn't work out if he was embarrassed, sad or ashamed. She hoped he felt all three, for he certainly deserved it. Charlotte's chest was heaving as she turned around and slammed the door for the second time that evening, feeling far better off that time. Of course, she knew that would wear off in a few minutes. So she tried to revel in the feeling for a few moments, before she once again felt like she'd lost her only friend.

* * *

(~ **James** ~)

James lifted his gaze and watched the door, his mouth still gaped with his mind coming up empty. His thoughts were intelligible as he tried to work out how the evening became such a stuff up and when it all went wrong.

"Uh…would you like to share with the classroom, what just happened?" Sirius said, his mouth also gaped open. James turned in his bed to face Sirius, then Pete and then Remus, who'd just gotten out of the hospital moments after Charlotte stormed off the first time, all sharing similarly dumbfounded expressions.

James leaned back into his bed and groaned, ignoring for a moment, Sirius, who was obviously wondering "What in the bloody black lake Charlotte was going on about", Pete who wouldn't stop complaining about a girl being in their room and Remus who… no, Remus was silent. James looked at Remus, and felt his chest lighten slightly when he gave him a small consoling smile. Remus always seemed to understand things a great deal more than anyone else in the room. James had a feeling it had to to with his… _furry friend_.

Charlotte obviously hadn't realised that she came back whilst he had company, and would probably be right embarrassed if she realised Sirius had heard all that. James cautioned a look at his friend, and regretted it once his best mate realised he'd finally gotten James' attention.

Sirius was becoming more agitated, so with a sigh, James lifted himself up. He had to pause when his hands met a silky fabric that was most definitely not his sheets. He picked up the small piece of black materiel. Recognizing it as a girl's singlet, he rolled his eyes and threw it at Sirius' face, wondering how on earth his ' _friends'_ clothing came to be on his bed. Sirius caught it, also rolling his eyes when he recognised what it was, and tossed it behind him carelessly. Sirius obviously only wanted to talk about one thing, and it was probably one of the last things James wanted to talk about. Especially after he and Sirius had only spoken about Charlotte a few days ago, and he'd manage to mess things up quite brilliantly also. He had the distinct feeling it was going to be a long night. 

* * *

**This was a loooong time coming! I know its ridiculously long, and sometimes I want to slap the silly out of me, but I just couldn't stop writing, because the chapter didn't feel finished, and it felt wrong to just post a half chapter and leave everyone hanging for more… So I made it longer.**

 **Let me know what you think of this chapter, it was quite difficult to write, mainly because I didn't know how to form the fight between James and Charlotte. It couldn't be forced, and I didn't want it to be obvious… basically I have no idea what I'm doing!**

 **You should have seen/read what this chapter was like before I cut out the second half. That's right, I cut out 5,000 words and changed it. I realised it was too much… too soon. Don't worry, you'll thank me in the long run!**

 **I'm testing out having a beta at the moment, so chapters may miraculously become cleaner.**

 **Anyway, Review, favourite and follow. All that lovely drama that makes my day and encourages me to right**

 **Thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter. That was really hard for me, so positive reviews pushed me to write this one faster. (hint hint) ;)**

 **Anyway, hope you enjoyed.**

 **BEFORE YOU GO!**

 **If you click on my profile, I have been updating whenever I have written anything/ any struggles and how many words im up to. It's a good way to see where the story is at, so check it out! Also I made an Instagram account, where I've drawn Charlotte's patronus. (GO LOOK) its naomiitherese . So follow me there as well**

 **xxxxx**


	18. Chapter 18

_"I maintain that I never expect anything, therefore I'm always pleasantly surprised."_

 **Chapter eighteen:**

* * *

(~ **James** ~)

Charlotte was avoiding him, as was Sirius. Course, James never explicitly told Sirius what had happened, rather he heard through Hannah, who had no idea who Charlotte was, but was told by Frank, who was just looking to get her attention, told by Alice, who everyone knew, except for Frank, that she'd fancied the boy longer than James fancied Lily. Obviously Lily told Alice, and one could only assume it was Charlotte herself who told Lily.

It didn't really matter how it got to Sirius, but it did. It was probably blown far out of proportion as well. Nothing bad actually happened. He might have misplaced his words a little bit, and made a mess of a good situation, but he failed to see why Sirius was avoiding him.

Remus knew why, but he wouldn't let on. Apparently James had to 'figure it out' on his own. Remus' actual words had been to "stop being so bloody blind, wake up, and see it wasn't all about him." With the occasional cursing of course.

James scoffed, grumbling to himself as he walked onto the pitch, rolling his shoulders in anticipation.

Sirius couldn't avoid him for long, they had Quidditch practise, like they did every Friday evening before their weekend break. He'd have no choice but to talk to him then. Perhaps James might actually get to tell his side of the story. An encouraging but unlikely thought.

He felt bad what he'd said to Charlotte, and tried to apologise, more than once. But she just wasn't having it. She'd pretend he wasn't there, or just blindly stare at him until he was the one who left, clearly understanding her meaning. Charlotte would be much harder to reconcile with than Sirius, for one, he'd never actually had a fight with Cherlotte, so he didn't know th best way to butter her up. He'd ask Lily, but she seemed content on glaring at him from a distance. No love lost there apparently.

That was probably the most tragic part of the entire encounter. Whatever slim progress he'd managed to make with Lily slipped away in but a moments realisation that he'd hurt Charlotte's feelings. It confused him really, as Charlotte and Lily seemed to get on like two mandrakes planted in the same pot.

It was extremely painful when he caught one of her glares, and he was almost certain that she hated him now more than ever. He hadn't done a bloody thing to her!

He could handle the glares, knowing that he'd said something stupid to Lily himself, but he hadn't been anything other than what Charlotte had told him to be... For weeks! Though he cared for Lily in ways that showed him oxygen wasn't the only thing he needed to live, he'd been trying to put her on the shelf for a moment, deciding to focus his efforts on fixing the screw up he'd managed to create with Charlotte and Sirius.

The boys were starting to walk on the field, prepped In their training gear as always, and their brooms at their sides, not touching the ground of course. The last time James caught one of them, the entire team suffered by standing for an hour , holding their brooms above their heads. You might think a broom was light, but when it had the treatment and care Quidditch brooms did, it was bloody heavy. Gryffindor team learnt the hard way to respect their brooms.

He nodded his head to the boys, and managed a small smile when they returned it, automatically getting into the warm up for training. 3 of them were already in the air, doing some simple laps, getting used to the feeling of their brooms again.

Knowing he would have to wait another good 20-30 minutes for the rest of the team, he jumped on his own broom, brushing back his Quidditch cape and pulling down his goggles. They might make him look stupid, but he was able to get them prescribed for his pathetic excuse for eyeballs, and they kept the wind from stealing his sight.

He already had a beater, a reserve and his seeker on the field. Sirius was notably missing, and he muttered a scoff. Rather typical of him to be late really. If there was a chance that Sirius could piss James off, he would take it.

The last few days between them all had been… tense. Of course James and Sirius weren't talking, not without the attempts of Remus, who tried to drag them screaming into every conversation. Remus was smart about it, in ways James would never even think to try. He'd bring up old memories, making them nostalgic in hopes it would alleviate some of the anger Sirius obviously felt. His most futile attempt was when James tried to deflect what Charlotte had said, that night when she came storming in and yelling her head off like a baboon.

"Well?" James remembered Sirius' insistent voice ask as he attempted, quite poorly, to avoid his questions. "Why were you talking about me? Don't think I'm not thrilled, as I pride myself on being the topic of every conversation, but I'd care to know why Charlotte came in, obviously unaware of my presence, yelling that she could shag me if she wished."

James had rolled his eyes and shrugged, desperately attempting to play down the whole thing. "Don't know what to tell you Padfoot, women are batty." He went back to lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling and hoping that would stop the inflow of questions for the moment. Of course, it only seemed to fuel Sirius' temperament.

"Come off it prongs!" He yelled, visually struggling to not walk right up to James and force his best mate to tell him what was going on. That had been the moment that James realised he was very much serious about his intentions to Charlotte. It was different from the other girls Sirius had seemed to fancy, but that rare sincerity was something that James had noticed every time. It made him wince, realising he was unintentionally offending his friend.

"Listen, i'm sure its all a misunderstanding," James heard Remus say to Sirius, likely coming to his side. Though he appreciated Remus' attempts now, he hadn't then. It had annoyed him, somehow he got it into his head that he was taking Sirius' side. "James, it was a misunderstanding right?"

James sat up and looked to Sirius and Remus, regretting it when noticing the desperate expression Remus gave, and the infuriated one Sirius was trying to hide. Quite poorly honestly. He gave a shrug, and felt Sirius' hard stare all the more. It made him pause for a moment, considering just telling him what happened instead of trying to pass it off. But really, it was between him and Charlotte. Sirius had no business sticking his nose in their business.

"Its Charlotte you need to be asking," James said, shrugging again and letting his body fall back and hit his bed before he saw either of his mates reactions.

"Some friend you are," Sirius bit, and James heard him walk over to his bed, not wanting to look at him, he shut his eyes and pretended to doze off. He was actually slightly surprised his friend wasn't going off at him. When he wanted to, Sirius had a temper that could surpass Charlotte in her worst moments. "What the hell did you say to her James!"

Ah, so it was obvious that Charlotte was upset. James had thought, at first, that Sirius was just curious as to why he was coming up in their conversation, but it was more than that. Sirius wanted to know why Charlotte was upset. He ignored the guilt beginning to rise in his stomach like bile.

When all James did was ignore him, Sirius stormed from the room, stopping a moment to swear quite colourfully at James, before slamming the door on his way out. At this rate, the door was likely to fall off. There was only so many times a door frame could handle being slammed against, and over the years its had its fair share. Only guess to how its survived? Heavily enchanted.

"Whats going on?" Remus asked, using his hand to shove James so his eyes opened. When all James did was grunt and wave away the hand, He shoved again, this time harder.

"Nothing is going on!" James yelled, batting away the hand. "Just piss off!" He glared at Remus until his friend sighed and walked off, out the door. _Likely after Sirius,_ James thought with a scoff.

Pete had followed shortly after and he was all but left to his thoughts. Of course, it lead him to realising that he _possibly_ hadn't taken the best course of action that day, with Charlotte and with Sirius.

Anyway, there was no use him regretting it now. What's done was done. James adjusted himself on the broom and took off, blindingly shooting through the sky. There wasn't any pattern or method, he just flew. His hair flipped by him, and he felt his lips lift in a smile as he weaved his way through the stands, feeling the tug of the wind through each wave.

He felt freedom flying, a freedom he'd been looking forward to for days. He spent his time, waiting for the rest of the team in a similar fashion, feeling the wind whip at his clothes and protest when he took sharp turns and complete loops. He had a fantastic broom, a present from his parents and Sirius for his 17th the previous year. It didn't surpass the Nimbus, which came out just a few months ago, but he treasured his Silver Arrow, none the less. Like its name sake, the deep mahogany wood was lined with silver, curved at the bottom to create holsters for his feet. The cushioning charm was an absolute treasure and made him feel like he was sitting on a mound of feathers rather than wood.

He cleaned it twice weekly, and found himself going through servicing kits every few months, where they were meant to last years. At first his parents had been shocked and a tad worried that their only son was being utterly reckless on his broom. That was until they saw he and Sirius play head-on Quidditch in the Potter grounds. They saw his dedication, his enthusiasm and understood his passion. Like any good parents, they began encouraging him. They still worried, but they worried with a smile on their face, appreciating that their son had found something he loved.

He'd yet to write back to his dad, concerning his mum. He just didn't know what to say. What he wanted to do, was rush home on the fastest horseless carriage out of Hogwarts. Of course, his mum wouldn't hear of it. James could feel himself taking turns sharper, and faster then he needed to as he thought about his mum. His dad said there was no use him worrying, as she would likely be up and about in a moment. He never stopped worrying, and now with Sirius and Charlotte not talking to him, everything felt like it was crumbling.

James turned his broom just the slightest degree to the left, and felt his breathe expel in short bursts as he missed the Slytherin stand by a bare centimetre. He was cutting it close now, and though it was rather reckless, it got his adrenaline pumping. He'd worked out after a few years that the more adrenaline seeping through his body, the less he thought about anything else other than the feeling of the wind fighting so hard against him. He spared a quick glance to his team, and found all of them standing at the pitch entrance, watching him. He couldn't see their faces, but they were probably wondering what the hell was going on with him. James barked orders at them like a drill sergeant, and would tear into them if they ever did anything remotely reckless.

With a sigh, James slowed down and approached his team. Before he came to the ground, he already knew that one of his beaters was missing. A scowl was in place the moment he landed, and the Gryffindor team were instantly on edge, knowing what an annoyed Gryffindor captain meant.

"Well?" James barked, holding his broom to the side. "I don't see my team."

"I already looked for Black," James looked to Mandy, the Gryffindor teams reserve. She was a fantastic all round player, she just hadn't quite yet found her place. She's only in her 4th year, so she had plenty of time to find out. Though he'd usually be easier on her, as she tended to tear up whenever James was remotely aggressive, he found himself frowning at the girl. She shuffled under his hard gaze, and hid partially behind the Seeker, Bronson. "Couldn't find him," She squeaked out.

"Obviously," James bit, shuffling his broom to his other hand and moving his goggles to his forehead. Mandy hid her face and James sighed. Before he finished up his 7th year, he'd have to make sure he toughened the girl up. She was far too meek, and she had the strength to be a fantastic chaser if only she put her mind to it. "Anyone else have any idea where our negligent beater is?"

At his command, his team looked to their sides, meeting the eyes of their teammates and silently questioning if any of them had seen Sirius. Eventually, a few of them shrugged and muttered a small no. James sighed and barked at them to start their warm up drills. They hurried straight into their drills. James caught the back end of his seeker muttering about how far his broom was shoved up his…James scowled, giving his seeker a punishment of 5 minutes with a double bludger session. Arguably a cruel punishment, knowing his seeker would have to fly and navigate around the pitch without the support of his team, but it was always effective whenever his team gave him trouble.

With training half way done, the entire team exhausted, and Sirius still a no-show, James decided to end it early. As they always did whenever they finished a session, they put their brooms to the side and did 15 laps of the field. James didn't lead it, as he wasn't the strongest runner, rather he stuck behind, encouraging the slowest of the bunch to move their legs.

15 laps were done, and James had to hand it to the lions, for only half a training session, they'd given their all. Even he was exhausted, and he hadn't participated in the warm up. He gave it a few moments as they got to the Gryffindor showers before addressing the group. He called them to sit on the benches, and watched with a half smile as they slumped beside each other, a fair few leaning on each other for support.

"Beater aside," James started, seeing his other beater wince. He looked down to the snitch in his hand, a momento of the year Gryffindor won the Quidditch cup at his leadership. Though he'd technically 'stolen' it, after two years, no one seemed bothered by him keeping it. "You showed some strength today. I hit you hard with drills, we went through wave after wave and you fought back with determination. You did good." James managed a half smile at the surprised expressions on his teammates faces, letting them relish for a moment, before telling them to get their asses in the showers. They hurried to do as he bid, and that's when he smirked. His smirk fell away when he realised that, usually, he would turn to Sirius and make a comment about how obedient his teammates were. Obviously Sirius wasn't around to share in the sentiment.

His scowl returned, and he found himself ripping his training gear off and slamming it into his locker. He and Sirius had fights before, make no doubt of that, but never before had he missed Quidditch practice because of it. It was more than bloody annoying. He was letting the entire team down with his pettiness.

James didn't even really understand why Sirius was so angry. When he had found out that James had warned off Charlotte from going _there_ with him, he'd been infuriated, spitting out all sorts of nonsense. James stopped him when he started blabbering about Lily, clearly telling him he was going to far. For a moment, he was almost sure Sirius was going to hit him, but he ended off just storming off. Since then, he'd only ever seen Sirius and Charlotte together. If anything, what James said had pushed them together. When they hadn't noticed he was around, he'd seen them laughing and joking around, filling him with a bitterness James was surprised at. They should be _grateful._ But instead, they were both continuing to ignore him. Immaturity at its finest really.

Charlotte and Lily were talking again. They had also seemingly _bonded_ over the small transgression. It seemed everyone but him had gained something from what had happened. It was really only Pete who was acting normal around him, as even Remus thought James had crossed some sort of line he shouldn't have. He would give him _those_ looks. The ones that made him feel guilty, likely without meaning to.

When James had cleaned up after practice, and was making his was towards the common room, he passed by Lily as she made her prefect rounds. She already knew that he was out for training, so didn't reprimand him for being out late, that didn't stop her however, with fixing him with a hard glance, before holding her head in the air. James had to pause what he was doing as he watched her pass by him. All thoughts of Charlotte and Sirius flew away as he stood appreciating Lily, in all her infuriated glory.

Her hair was brushing down her shoulders in curls and her green eyes pierced his soul. James was breathless. Words left him, and head became foggy with this image of Lily. He stood in the corridor watching her walk away for a good few seconds before he realised what was happening. He shook his head firmly, swung his bag further on his shoulder and ran to catch up to Lily. He had to gulp as she turned her startled eyes to him, her mouth thinning into a scowl. His eyes lingered on those lips for a moment, before he forced them to meet her eyes again.

"Evans," James acknowledged, a tad awkwardly. Though he and Charlotte were at an impasse, he still respected what she had taught him so far about talking to Lily. He had always attempted to be suave with Lily, and it never worked. She seemed to notice his odd behaviour as well, as her brows furrowed down.

"Potter, I'm not interested." She bit, going to turn and walk away again. She likely thought he was going to try and bloody ask her out again. _Fair assumption._

"Please wait a moment," James said desperately, grabbing onto her arm. Though his hold on her was soft, her eyes narrowed at his arm until he slowly let go. It took him longer than it should have to form his next words as he attempted to subdue the memory of her soft skin beneath his. Sirius would be killing himself if he knew just how close James came to being undone by a simple touch. James knew if it were Sirius in his place, he'd tease him relentlessly.

"Well?" Lily snapped, crossing her arms on her chest when James just stood staring at her. He shook his head an focused on what he stopped her for.

"Is Charlotte… I mean, how do I… Iv'e tried…" James was interrupted as Lilys hand came up to stop his words.

"Look, Charlotte didn't even tell me all that you said okay?" Lily said with a sigh, rubbing a hand down her nose, something James remembered Charlotte had done once or twice. "You were a right prat to her though. Charlotte doesn't cry, but I almost which she had of. If only to show she still had emotions." Obviously James was confused, and Lily seemed to pick up on it, as she rolled her eyes, as though she was telling him something he should have already known.

"Easiest way to make Charlotte close off? Hurt her badly. She's better off angry, annoyed or down right infuriated then choosing not to feel anything at all. If she does that, she'll making herself not care anymore." Lily seemed to consider her words as she looked at the ashamed look James knew he couldn't hold back. "For whatever god forsaken reason, Charlotte has taken a shine to you and Black. She had been happier the past few weeks than I have seen her in years."

James let a small smile break through which was almost immediately shunned as Lily began talking again. "I don't approve of her friendship with either or you. At all. But she isn't listening to me anymore. She has chosen to decide what makes her happy… for the moment, that appears to be you and your idiot friend." James smiled then, not caring if Lily's scowl deepened. "You've managed to screw that up though."

"I didn't mean to hurt her," James said, his smile gone. "I don't know what I was thinking…but I know I didn't mean to hurt her. Or Sirius for that matter."

"Well, I'm not the one you have to convince Potter," Lily said with a sigh. James nodded slowly, and looked away awkwardly when he felt Lily's bright eyes fix him with a stare. It wasn't the usual hard glare she generally gave him, instead she seemed to be simply thinking something as she looked at him. Well, whatever she was doing, it made him itchy and self-conscious. He never realised being observed by a beautiful girl that he cared deeply for would do that to him.

"I don't get it." James met her eyes, giving her a questioning look. She sighed and bit her lip, and James had to hold his hand back from running his thumb across her lip. It wasn't often he and Lily had a conversation that didn't involve high intensity yelling. Even though James was sure their fighting was simply built up sexual tension, he decided he liked this far better. He ignored his feelings for a moment, as they always seemed to cloud his thoughts, and focused on what lily was _saying_. "I really don't."

"Im not all that bad," James said with a small smile and shrug. Lily was unconvinced, and he knew she had her reasons. Very good ones too. He'd managed to torment her best friend, ex-best friend, and offend her sister quite badly, even if she didn't know how. He also knew she detested him for his attempts at romance over the past few years, and that wasn't something he could take back. He didn't blame her for not understanding. _He_ didn't even understand.

He watched as she walked away, and felt a sickening feeling in his stomach. He couldn't name the feeling, but he knew it had something to do with the dread he felt going back to the Gryffindor common room. He'd have to sit and watch as Sirius and Charlotte chatted on happily as though he didn't exist, and know he couldn't do a bloody thing about it because both of them were ignoring him. Remus would give him _the look_ and Pete would be the only one acting normal.

He'd intended to yell his head of at Sirius, the moment he saw him in their dorm, quietly welcoming any interaction with his best mate he hadnt spoken to in days, but he wasn't in there, and according to Remus and Pete, the last they saw him, he was with Charlotte. _Fine then._ James thought bitterly, throwing his bag beside his bed and resisting the urge to break something. _Don't need either of them anyway._

* * *

(~ **Charlotte** ~)

Charlotte was beginning to forget the feeling of casting a patronus. It made her gloomy and depressed, and she skulked around the school, a black cloud following her wherever she went. Of course, the few classrooms with Atmospheric charms were the only ones that made her black cloud appear. Ancient Runes being one of them, she had to sit beside Lily, who seemed to be all puppies and rainbows, as a storm brewed above her. Eventually, Lily elbowed her sister when it started raining.

She was so annoyed, that she was forgetting what exactly it was that she was annoyed at. James had said some stupid things, but James was a bit stupid in his own special, brilliant and equally ridiculous way. All she knew, was every time she thought of James, her chest would constrict, and she had to immediately begin doing _something_. She was up to date with all her school work, and she hadn't taken a single glance towards the Animagus potions list that was crumpled near the bottom of her bag. She'd begun her end of year studying with Lily, and she could quite possibly say that it was as though she'd never met James. Like he had never approached her in the great hall, flicking his chocolate waves out of his hazel eyes and hitting her with all the charm he could muster.

She went back to sitting alone, for the first few days at least, and she pretended like it didn't hurt at all. She would push all those feelings away, and just read a book while eating, until she was finished, then she would leave the great hall. When Lily eventually sat her down, wanting to know why her sister was suddenly acting like her old self, she was cornered into telling her everything.

Everything wasn't really _everything_. She did give Lily a brief overview of the little confrontation she and James had, leaving out bits and pieces, like how she'd shown him her patronus, his mothers illness and how she'd stormed back into the room declaring she could shag whoever she wanted. That still made Charlotte cringe every time she ran through the memory. Lily got the idea. In less words than necessary, she summed up that James had disapproved her friendship with Sirius, and anything more than that. Though Charlotte made it clear that anything more wasn't even a possibility. Lily didn't seem to completely believe her, but Charlotte was past the point of caring.

Lily had been mostly nice to her since she spat out the little drama. They even managed to hold a few conversations without biting each other's heads off, which was a vast improvement.

In the meantime, Charlotte had tried to cast a patronus, twice. The first time, she had prepared herself, realised she didn't _want_ to think of any happy memories of her and James, so left the abandoned room. The second time, she allowed herself to feel happy for a moment, ignoring the nagging voice in the back of her head telling her she wasn't _really_ happy. She'd barely said ' _Expecto'_ when she had to drop her wand in favour of clutching her head desperately. She felt the dizziness, nausea and light headedness that she'd come to forget whenever she used magic. However, it unfortunately seemed to have returned, worse than before.

She didn't bother with the rest of her classes that day, and just went straight to bed, hoping she'd wake with her head feeling like it wasn't being torn apart. She was given that mercy, and she arrived at breakfast with the same glum feeling as she had every day that week. The difference that day? Sirius came and sat beside her.

It was certainly surprising, though she was a little unsure why. She hadn't seen him for almost as long as she had avoided James. That meant that she saw the back of his head in class, and the side of his face when they ate at the great hall, but hadn't actually spoken to him. He was in a _good_ mood, and that confused her. He chatted to her more freely than he'd done in the past, and seemed genuinely happy to just sit beside her. Charlotte was a little more than suspicious.

Remus came and joined them for a few minutes, and it was almost normal. Or what Charlotte had come to consider normal. Of course, there was a James sized hole, but she doubted anyone would have a large enough ego to fill that. Pete was also seemingly distant, though he didn't seem to take a particular liking to Charlotte, so she tried not to be too bothered by it.

Suddenly Sirius was at her side constantly, filling the space of both James and Lily simultaneously. She appreciated his friendship, and didn't at all mind spending time with him, but she was going to get sick of the boy, and possibly kill him if she didn't spend time with someone, _anyone_ , else. She had left subtle hints to lily suggesting that they spend an evening or two studying in the solitude of the library, and she was perhaps a little too thrilled to find she agreed. Charlotte had mournfully told Sirius she had plans for the afternoon, and tried not to feel bad at how lost he looked for a moment, that was replaced by sheer typical annoyance when he'd told her he didn't mind who she spent time with, as long as he was the only one in her dreams. Like he'd ever come near her dreams.

True to their word, Charlotte and Lily spent the afternoon in the Library. Dare Charlotte say they had an alright time? Dare she jinx their relationship by saying things were starting to look up? It had been around 4 in the afternoon when Lily left, parting ways with the reminder to not stay up too late studying. Charlotte gave her an eye roll and practically pushed her out of the small cubicle they had been working in in the library.

It was around half an hour later than Sirius decided to grace her with his presence. She was reluctant, at first, to welcome it, as she'd only managed to part from him for a few hours. She was rather bored of her work however, and she had been studying for hours.

So they began chatting. Then they were talking intently, about muggle cars and motorcycles of all things. She could tell Sirius had some sort of fascination with them, and he even voiced his intention to purchase a flying motorcycle the second he could afford it. Charlotte, rather unaware of his 'home' situation, stated, quite blandly, that he was rich and could probably buy five if he truly wanted to. Sirius let out a dry laugh, one that was clearly pained. Charlotte instantly regretted what she said, the moment she saw his expression.

In small words, and a soft voice she hadn't heard him use, Sirius explained that his home life wasn't as lovely as some made it sound. He didn't tell her everything, but he explained that he left home when he was 16 and had been living at the Potter mansion ever since. Charlotte nodded, biting her lip as she avoided looking in his eyes. Charlotte made a negative comment towards James, poking fun at him and suggesting he probably the best roommate, and it had the reaction she'd hoped. Sirius laughed loudly, and was no longer in that odd mood that she'd managed to cause once or twice. After that afternoon, Sirius continued to stick to her side like glue. She didn't mind it, except for the times when he walked into the ladies room with her. Of course, he didn't act embarrassed at all upon entering and finding all the girls looking at him in shock. He just waggled his eyebrows and left the bathroom in a single move, probably smirking, smug over the hushed discussions from the gossipy girls of Hogwarts the moment he left.

James had disappeared from existence, as it seemed. After the fifth time she turned down his attempts at apologizing, he'd apparently given up. Now he seemed to slip in and out of classrooms. She wouldn't look his way at lunch, and when they passed in the common room, her eyes were on the floor.

"Sirius, can I help you with something" Charlotte said with a sigh, turning a page of her book and trying not to be annoyed. Though she clearly was. She could have thrown the book across the room and hit him in his perfectly sculpted face.

"Probably," he drooled suggestively, pulling up a chair and sitting on it so the back was pressed against his stomach and he could rest his head on it. Charlotte felt her nose twitch and she rubbed her cheek slightly, the forbidden thought entering her mind quite clearly that he looked extremely cute sitting with his head rested on his arms. He didn't do it often, but his hair was bound behind his head today in a small bun, and Charlotte knew if he was any other guy, he'd likely be teased relentlessly for having hair as he did. Even _Malfoy_ was teased for his long blonde hair, and he was a bloody aristocratic pureblood that most feared or were severely jealous of.

His hair aside, she really had no idea what the hell he was thinking following her in here, assuming that's what he did.

Charlotte rubbed her eyes and shut her book for a moment, crossing her legs together as she fixed Sirius with a stare. "Okay, why are you here?"

"Can't a chap enjoy a gal's presence," He asked innocently, shrugging his shoulders and smiling.

"Sure. Can you do it elsewhere as in… not in my dorm?" Charlotte was still trying to work how he managed to get up the stairs, let alone unlock her door. Come to think of it, she didn't lock her door when she came in her dorm. That still left the mystery of how the magical Hogwarts stairs allowed him to go into the bloody girls dorm.

Though Charlotte enjoyed his presence, she had never even had a boy in her room, and it was beyond embarrassing. Even if it was ridiculously tidy and not a thing sat out of its place. Hell, Charlotte had slept in James bed and she felt less awkward then she did now, watching him rock slightly in the chair. When he'd first come in, after the initial shock and yelling, he'd walked around her room, looking at this and that, then just stood by the door watching her. Wary wasn't a sharp enough word to use for the way she watched him as he watched her.

Now he seemed to simply be teasing her.

"If you'll follow me elsewhere." Sirius replied effortlessly, with a wink and a smile.

Charlotte rolled her eyes and hid her glowing cheeks behind the old cover of her Charms study book. Eventually, she stopped pretending to read, and started reading again, becoming quite entranced by the words before her. Her eyes flickered up a few times, and each time, she found Sirius watching her, a small smile on his otherwise content expression.

She snapped the book shut and shook her head with a weary sigh. "Sirius, I appreciate your company. But you're staring."

"I'm trying to work you out," He said unabashed. Well her cheeks were definitely ablaze now, and there was no point trying to hide it. Anyone would have blushed at such an abrupt statement. "You're like this ridiculously complicated puzzle that's only made for adults. You fascinate me."

Once she'd gotten over her blush and his heavy gaze that didn't move off her, she thought over his words. "I genuinely don't know if I should feel flattered or offended." He laughed loudly then, swinging back slightly in the chair. Charlotte watched with a small smile, nothing more than a quirk of her lips, as he looked back at her, his grey eyes barely visible through the crinkles of his laughter.

"Flattered. Definitely flattered," He said nodding with a wide smile. Charlotte nodded as well, losing the uncomfortable feeling of a boy being in her room the longer they just sat there and the longer it felt _normal_. "Tell me something Charlotte, have we…. Did we ever talk before this?"

Charlotte looked at him in confusion, shaking her head slightly. "Sirius, we were talking during charms."

He laughed, ruffling his hair as he searched for the right words. "No I mean, before we met in class, all those weeks ago. Assuming that's when we 'met'." By the look on his face, he appeared to have been thinking of a way to ask this for awhile. No doubt since she had first told him she already knew him when he had been trying to convince her to help James.

Charlotte bit her lip, remembering when she'd met Sirius and when he'd remember they had met. They were two completely separate times. "Yes, yes we had." Charlotte sighed, and tossed the book aside, coming to sit at the end of her bed so she was a shorter distance away from Sirius. "Third year, you asked to borrow a quill and I told you to piss off."

"That's a tad harsh," Sirius said laughing, scratching his head in thought. Charlotte watched him with wide eyes as he thought over what she'd said, obviously trying to work out where he displaced such a humorous memory. "Yeah I don't remember that at all."

Charlotte sighed, shaking her head and wondering why she expected anything different just because they were friends now. "First year, you directed me to the Gryffindor common room when I got lost after studying at dinner."

"Aren't I a gentleman?" Sirius said with a laugh. Charlotte scowled and would have hit him if he were but a metre closer.

"You sent me to the Slytherin dungeon you prat."

This time, Sirius frowned and watched her with furrowed brows. "I'm not sure that was me. I don't remember that one either, you sure it was-"

"Fourth year you shoved past me going down from the divination tower, I dropped all my books and you kept walking. Third year, again, I hexed you when you dumped a fourth year through owl mail. The start of this year, we sat beside each other for the evening meal. You smiled at me, for a moment I was sure you recognized me. You were smiling at Florence Xavier" Charlotte took a breath and coughed awkwardly, rather embarrassed at her rambling. She was getting emotional, and Sirius knew it.

"I'm sorry Char, I don't remember any of that." He said it with an intensity and kindness that lessened her worries instantly. A calmness settled in her, and she found herself freed of any resentment was buried within her each time he had looked through her like she was made of air. Charlotte rolled her eyes and smiled, a genuine smile that she had no trouble in giving him, standing up and coming to stand by Sirius side. Hesitantly, with his eyes on her, she rested a hand on his shoulder. Just beside where his untidy collar sat.

"I know Sirius, and don't call me that," referring to his apparent nickname that sounded odd to her ears. Who calls someone 'Sharr'? She whacked his arm slightly and winked lightly, turning to put the book back in the bookshelf, having read more than enough that evening. She'd only taken a step when she was spun around and pulled into the embrace of Sirius. "Damnit, is it national hug your friend's month?" Charlotte's words were just a nervous mutter as she felt Sirius enclose around her tightly.

eCharlotte tried to smile when he pulled back and looked into her face, his arms still formidable around her. She tried, truly, but she couldn't fathom what emotions were flying through his eyes. They grey seemed to swirl as his pupils became larger, and they were suddenly much darker than they were before. She sputtered, rather surprised by the look and pushed on his chest slightly, a clear indication she wanted to be let go. He was taller than James, which meant he was taller than her by a few inches. Somehow those inches managed to slip away, one by one the longer Sirius held her in the odd embrace.

Though she tried to push the thought away, all she could really think, was how different his hug was than James'. There was nothing possessive about the way James hugged her, but for some odd reason, it felt like Sirius was trying to show or prove something. She couldn't imagine what considering they were the only bloody people in the room.

She smiled hesitantly with a caution and anxiety that had her stomach constricting and exploding simultaneously. She pushed on his chest a little more firmly, forcing Sirius to weaken his hold of her. Sirius _did_ unwrap one arm, but Charlotte felt her eyes widen as it only circled around to the back of her head, gently holding her neck like a lover.

 ** _LIKE A LOVER?!_**

She was frozen like stone as Sirius leaned forward, no hesitancy in his eyes, as he pressed his lips to hers.

One million thoughts flew through her mind, all much faster than she could comprehend. One notable thing, was the realisation that this was her first kiss. Another, that it was equally the most awkward few seconds of her life.

His lips were soft against hers, and she could appreciate that he was a good kisser, even if it _was_ only a small peck. Charlotte didn't know what she was meant to do, her lips just simply lying still as his pressed against hers. Was she meant to… Kiss him back? How did one even kiss someone else back? The only thing she'd ever really done with her lips was shove food in her mouth and talk, she was fairly certain those 'skills' wouldn't help her in the kissing department.

More importantly than her kissing skills, why in the bloody black lake was Sirius kissing her? Sure they've had a few times where there was some… _Flirting_. She had never thought it would result in this however. It was fun to flirt with him, because it seemed harmless, and pointless for some odd reason. But this? This wasn't harmless and certainly not pointless.

This wasn't what she'd thought her first kiss would be like and Sirius was _definitely_ not who she thought would be the initiated of her first kiss. Yet, all the softness that she had imagined for her first kiss was there. It wasn't just some random she'd met half drunk at a bar, nor was he a stranger. She'd come to think of serious as a good friend, and she knew for a fact that half the girls in her year couldn't stand the first boy they kissed. She still cared for Sirius, but not how seemingly thought she did. She held no fantasies of romance, and there was a certain feeling that was missing. She didn't notice his presence like he was the only one in the room, or single him out in a crowded great hall.

She'd always thought James' obsession with Lily was rather perverse and hinted at an undiagnosed mental illness he should probably see a healer or even muggle doctor for, but in a light, it made sense. He seemed infatuated with Lily, to the point where he would come to _her_ for help. She held no feelings for Sirius other than a great fondness that only grew when they were In each other's presence. There was a comfort, and easiness. Yes she blushed when he flirted with her, and might have once or twice reciprocated it, but she genuinely hadn't believe it would result with _this_.

Charlotte wasn't like the other girls. Her knees didn't falter when he winked at her, nor did she stop breathing when his hazy grey eyes met her's. She might have entertained the thoughts of a crush when she first met him, when he _first_ started flirting with her, but that was before they were even friends. Now she couldn't see him as anything other than what he was. He was Sirius Black. A complete idiot, fool and swine. He was also incredibly kind, and thoughtful in ways you wouldn't think. He was probably her best friend.

It was amazing how James' obsession didn't seem so perverse anymore, Sirius kissing her however, was.

Sirius finally removed his lips from Charlotte when he realised her lips hadn't even twitched from his action, and he pulled back to look at her with both hands on her shoulders. He had a smirk on his face, and even though Charlotte hadn't reciprocated the kiss, he seemed rather happy with himself.

"Well that was the most one sided kiss I've had the pleasure of being a part of," he said with a laugh, watching in both amusement and pride as the red in Charlotte's cheeks seemed to grow. His hands ran down to her forearms which were taunt and restricted at her side like stone. She'd yet to give off any emotional impact from his forced upon kiss other than the colour in her face, and he must have taken it the opposite way to which it really indicated, for he leaned forward once more, his eyes focused solely on her lips.

Charlotte barely realised she'd acted before she felt a piercing pain in her fist that radiated up her arm into her shoulder, and watched in shock as Sirius tumbled backwards and fell on his backside. She hadn't expected it, but Godric was she thankful her subconscious mind was working properly. If it hadn't of been her fist that acted, she worried quite fiercely that it would been her wand her hand reached for.

Charlotte was still an unmovable force as she watched Sirius raise a hand to his nose, which blood trickled out of slowly. They were both in shock, neither really knowing what to do in a situation like this. Thankfully the opening of the door broke them from their shock.

"Charlotte! You wouldn't believe what just happened. I-" Lily stopped, mid laugh, as she looked upon her sister.

Charlotte looked terrible. Her face was pale and her eyes have never looked so dark. She seemed emotionless, but Lily had always known her sister better. Charlotte was pissed, no, more than that. She was infuriated. Her hands were shaking as her eyes never left Sirius who sat just a metre from Lily's feet.

"Black! What the hell are you doing in here!" Lily yelled, closing the door behind her and putting her hands on her hips as she glared at the large boy sprawled across her bedroom floor. Charlotte could tell her sister's eyes were on her, but her own seemed fixated on Sirius. His nose was starting to swell, and he had some bruising already starting to appear. She couldn't believe she'd been the cause of that. Well, actually… the throbbing in her hand made her believe it quite easily. Charlotte had always been a tad too violent, but she'd never expected herself to react physically without thinking, especially when it was her friend. It obviously didn't seem to matter _who_ it was that was trying to kiss her.

She was obviously in a state of shock, and not just because she'd managed to knock Sirius to the floor. He'd kissed her. That was something that was still processing through her mind, minutes after it actually occurred. What made him do it? Was it because they had spent more time together since the incident with James? She knew he knew what happened, but surely he didn't assume that Charlotte fancied him or had an interest in him as the other girls in their year seemed to…

Had she done exactly as James told her she was doing? Had she led Sirius to believe that she cared for him more than a friend? If that were true, a big if indeed, what had brought him to kiss her? What would make him believe that she would want to be one of his 'flings'. She couldn't even understand why he'd kissed her in the first place. She didn't want to consider the possibility that he might have heard from James or one of the boys that the fight with James had 'loosely' been about him. That could not only be taken the wrong way, but would be impossible to explain. All of it was so bloody confusing.

"WELL?!" Lily yelled again, sighing in relief when she caught her sister's attention. Charlotte blinked a few times as she looked at her shocked sister, before glancing back to Sirius. She frowned when she saw his face was only getting worse. She honestly couldn't tell what he was feeling, and that was a tad worrying, as he was just sitting there looking at her with a cemented expression of shock. Charlotte took a step towards him, and she watched as his eyes widened slightly.

Charlotte bit her lip and turned to her sister, noting that she was probably going to explode if someone didn't explain to her quickly what was going on. "Lily, would you mind coming back later?" Charlotte was surprised at how composed she sounded, especially after all that occurred.

"Your joking right?" Lily said with raised brows, as though to say 'I'm not going anywhere.' She sent a pointed look to Sirius, suggesting she wasn't going to leave with him still sprawled across their bedroom floor.

"Lily, Please," Charlotte said emphatically, her eyes wide. Lily watched her for a moment, before her eyes flickered to Sirius, then back up to Charlotte. Lily sighed, looked to the ceiling, shook her head and met her sisters eyes again. She nodded slowly, and backtracked out of the room, closing the door quietly. Charlotte closed her eyes, and turned around, opening them to find Sirius staring at her again.

She walked over to his side and knelt down, wincing as she looked at his nose. Definitely broken.

"I'm sorry," Charlotte said with a sigh, dropping the hand that came up as though to touch his face. He'd flinched when her hand came up, and she'd retracted it quickly, realizing it probably wasn't the best action after she'd just hit him. "You surprised me," Charlotte muttered honestly, crossing her legs and sitting beside him.

She watched as he looked away, and he seemed to process what she said. He still looked very surprised and confused however, and Charlotte realised she would have to clarify herself a little better.

"I…Godric Sirius, you can't just go round snogging people who have never been kissed before!" She winced when she realised how sharp she sounded, he seemed to be listening to her however, even if he wasn't looking directly at her. He moved to sit up, and she shuffled back, giving him some space.

"I…I'm not sure a girl has ever hit me for kissing them," Sirius muttered, lifting a hand to delicately prod at his nose. He winced when skin met skin, and his hand dropped back down to the ground. Charlotte nervously played with her shoe, feeling slightly idiotic. "I'm sorry."

Charlotte whipped her head up, meeting Sirius' gaze with wide surprised eyes. "I didn't know that you'd never kissed anyone. I didn't know that my kiss would be unwanted honestly…I had thought…Well. Obviously I was wrong," He gave her a crooked smile, one Charlotte couldn't return. She really didn't know what to say in response to that, because before today… she might have actually welcomed this sort of affection from Sirius. She couldn't even describe why it seemed so wrong, making it all the more difficult to meet his eyes.

She hung her head slightly, and leaned back against her dresser so she could still face Sirius. What a mess these past few days have been. Charlotte was trying to bury the feeling that this was all James' fault, but it was becoming a more attractive idea to just blame him for the moment.

"You pack a bloody heavy punch Char, honestly I can barely feel my face." Sirius said, quirking his mouth into a half wince/smirk that really wasn't working for him. "If anyone asks, you punched me because you couldn't stand your feelings for me anymore."

Charlotte tried to smile at his joking, she really did, but it probably looked like a frown or pained wince instead. She just, didn't find it funny.

"Don't worry about it, really." Sirius said, smiling at her when he realised it was guilt that was bringing her down. "My pride remains untarnished." Though she didn't want to think of herself greater than she was, she doubted that statement, especially considering there was something behind his eyes, and his mouth. They both were conveying humour and easiness, but beneath it, she saw pain. It made her chest heavy, knowing it had been her to cause that pain.

"You know," Charlotte said, gaining his attention, as he'd been prodding his nose for the last few moments. He tilted his head slightly, signaling he was listening. "That wasn't a half-bad first kiss."

Sirius started laughing, and then he was cursing when the action seemed to cause him pain. Charlotte chuckled to herself, watching as he struggled between wanted to laugh, and knowing it would be painful doing so. They both knew it was an absolute rotten kiss, but Charlotte was at least grateful it was with someone like Sirius, her friend, rather than an accidental snog whilst drunk. Now _that_ would be something she would regret easily. Though she wouldn't admit it to Lily, it was one of the reasons she feared drinking. Doing things drunk that she wouldn't remember in the morning.

"Will you give me a chance to fix it?" Charlotte asked, obviously meaning his nose which sat at a odd angle. Sirius seemed hesitant, but was also probably weighing up what was worse. If he went to a healer, he'd have to walk through the common room, and everyone would likely ask questions about his face, in which case he would either have to lie, or tell the truth and be humiliated. He gave a brief nod, and sat very still as Charlotte pulled out her wand.

"Just relax, worst case scenario, it doesn't work," Sirius nodded in agreence and closed his eyes. " _Or I break your nose more."_

"What was that?" He asked, opening his eyes again.

"Nothing, shut your eyes would you?" Charlotte asked with a short laugh. Once his eyes were closed, Charlotte focused her wand on the bridge of his nose. The trick with healing magic, and broken bones, was how well your imagination could picture the broken bones. For instance, Charlotte was trying to imagine the cartilage in his nose, bending at an odd angle, and the split in the tender bone which forced his nose to sit as it did. She imagined the bone repairing itself, and ignored the groans of Sirius which were seeping into her imagination.

"Episky!" Then her head started to hurt, and she had to fight through it to finish the healing process. She felt almost half drained as she finally dropped her wand into her lap and leaned back against the dresser, shutting her eyes in exhaustion. Sirius had only muttered a low groan throughout the process, and she was impressed that he didn't seem to be showing any pain.

She looked to Sirius, watching as he poked his nose with a smirk, which no longer looked deformed. It was still swollen and bruised, but the bone was back in place. "How do I look?"

"As ugly as usual," Charlotte said with a smile, closing her eyes again.

"So, If you don't actually fancy me…." Sirius began hesitantly, rubbing the back of his neck. Charlotte opened her eyes and watched him with a frown, knowing where he was going. "Why'd you tell prongs you could fancy, snog or shag me?" It was a fair question, considering she had been so specific when she'd yelled at James, Charlotte was just surprised that James had decided to share such information with him and she covered her surprise up well.

"He was being an ass," Charlotte said with a shrug. Sirius leaned forward, signaling he was listening intently and waiting for her to continue. She didn't know how to explain this to Sirius, because she didn't really know why she had gotten so annoyed in the first place. James was renowned for being protective of his friends, and Charlotte didn't exactly react appropriately considering the conditions. She blew things out of proportion and James, ever the charmer, somehow made it worse. "Well, James obviously already told you," Charlotte commented, waving her hand as though she could simply brush the conversation away.

"Uh, the bastard hasn't told me anything actually," Sirius said with a scoff of laughter. Sirius obviously noticed how surprised Charlotte was, guessing that she was surprised that they didn't share everything. Charlotte was actually more confused how he managed to know anything if he didn't hear it from James, especially the part where she had burst into the room yelling that she could shag Sirius if she dared wish it (leaving out a few parts of course). "You are aware Remus, Pete and I were in the dorm when you came in confidently proclaiming your sexual independence?"

If she wasn't still reeling from what he'd decided to share, she might've been blushing at that little statement but for the moment, Sirius calling it her 'sexual independence' was the least of her problems. Charlotte blanched, feeling all colour drain from her face. _They heard that?!_ No wonder Sirius thought she fancied him, she'd practically declared it in front of him. Godric how utterly humiliating. It dawned on her why James' eyes seemed to scatter around the room as she'd yelled at him, he was likely as surprised as the rest that she would declare such a thing in front of all four of them.

It seems both she _and_ James made a mess of things.

"It's not that bad you know," Sirius said, shrugging his shoulders. "The Idiot, James," He clarified, as though it needed clarification. "Well, he refused to tell us what was going on, so I have all but ignored him all week. Other than me completely embarrassing myself and stealing your first kiss, I don't really see what was wrong with what you said."

"I all but declared I was free to sleep around with whoever I wanted," Charlotte said blandly, giving him an impassive expression. "Out of context from what James and I were talking about, I sound like a _slag_ "

Sirius shrugged again, apparently not seeming to agree with her. "Assuming that James had said something to warrant the outburst," Sirius gave a questioning look to Charlotte, which she nodded at emphatically. "It was the verbal version of giving him the middle finger. Remove my name from the entire altercation, and you were just liberating yourself. Telling him to shove it where the sun don't shine. That his opinion doesn't sway you. That you don't care. That you have confidence in yourself. Girl power." He pumped a fist in the air and smiled.

Charlotte couldn't help it then, she laughed. She laughed so hard that her chest hurt, but she found it didn't hurt because she was laughing. Then, she laughed so hard, she cried and all Sirius could do was sit there and watch her with a sad smile. He didn't offer her words of comfort, or hug her, and she was rather glad for it. His understanding expression, and the fact that he wasn't teasing her, was more than enough comfort. She'd also been hugged by more people in the last month than she had her entire life, and she was embarrassed enough that she was shedding tears in his presence.

She was just so completely tired, and wanted her friend back, even if he had been an ass to her and an ass in general.

"Well, I guess there's just one question left..." Sirius said with a sigh, standing up from the ground and wiping the last of his blood of of his upper lip onto his jumper sleeve. With his other hand, he helped Charlotte up, and she also wiped her face, watching him with curiosity. "What are we going to do to get back at Prongs?"

Charlotte felt a brow raise in question and she watched with slight humour as Sirius' eyes turn mischievous. "Jinx him to pee the bed? Put green dye in his shampoo? Itching powder in his underwear?" Charlotte rolled her eyes and laughed, but really, it got her thinking. Perhaps pranking James _was_ the best way of fixing the situation. Charlotte would feel slight retribution without the confrontation that would come from trying to talk it out with him.

"None of those," Charlotte said, meeting Sirius' eyes with a smirk dancing on her lips. "I've got a much better idea."

* * *

 **Hi Everyone!**

 **Sorry if anyone was disappointed with the kiss, how things turned out between Sirius and Charlotte…. Or ANYTHING in the chapter. Its for the best my friends.**

 **Thanks for your lovely reviews on Chapter Seventeen, that monster took awhile to write, whereas this only took a week! I saw that some people have added me on Instagram. GOOD. That is where I will be posting updates, so make sure you follow me there! I also post Harry potter photos that I find amusing ;)**

 **We saw some Quidditch in this chapter, only a tiny eeny beeny spec. I have wanted to include Quidditch in one of the chapters, but didn't know how. I couldn't exactly just BAM QUIDDITCH. Though I guess with James' amount of passion for the sport, he could very well do that!**

 **Please review the chapter, and go follow me on Instagram so you can stay up to date with how my writing is going! Can you believe this story is almost 150,000 words?! AHMAHGASH. I also started this almost 12 months ago. THE FEEEEELS**

 **Love you all xxxx**


	19. Chapter 19

" _ **Forgive? Yes.**_

 _ **Forget? Never."**_

 **Chapter Nineteen**

* * *

 **(~James~)**

James sat under the scrutinising glare of Sirius for a good few moments before he muttered up the courage to open his mouth and trust that what came out wouldn't be absolute rubbish. Even when he finally did begin talking, it came out in a sort of squeak. Sirius rose a brow, and though comical, James knew not to trust that their fallout would simply vanish because Sirius understood how much he was struggling with this.

After Sirius had missed out on Quidditch the night before, he'd all but decided to give up on the idiot. It was _obviously_ Remus who explained to him rather clearly that it was _him_ who was the idiot, and not Sirius. He seemed convinced that, though James' heart had been in the right place at the time, protecting his best mate who'd seen enough rejection for a lifetime from those closest to him, and wanting Charlotte to be honest with herself, it wasn't any of his business. Remus even went so far as to say he thought Sirius and Charlotte wouldn't make such a bad couple. James _could_ argue with that, but he let it be for the meantime.

It had actually been Remus who'd trapped Sirius, helping James corner him into that tiny room they had found a few corridors off the potions classroom, hidden behind a painting and well out of sight. James had yet to actually ask Remus how he'd managed to do it, but Sirius was in the room, so he must have been very convincing. Though he'd been startled when Remus shut the door behind him, and it suddenly disappeared, all his questions were quelled when he turned around and there James was, sitting on a stool, one of two in the room beside a small table.

James had gestured to the stool, and with an agonising groan, that James had to raise a brow at, he stomped over to the stool, a hard feat considering it was but a foot away from him. He ran a hand through his hair, and began tapping his knee with his fingers, impatiently waiting for James to hurry up, apologise, so he could likely get out of there. The uncharacteristic squeak was what eventually broke the ice between them, and after clearing his throat, running his hand through his hair a few times and shaking his head, James found himself looking at his best friend.

"As you are probably aware," James began, gesturing to the 4 small walls in the room. "You've been brought here so we can have a nice long chat."

"I figured that one out on my own thanks," Sirius bit back sarcastically, rolling his foggy eyes. James nodded slowly, frowning. He'd known Sirius for a while, and was aware he wasn't the 'mushy' sort, but he had at least hoped that he would welcome the fact James was trying so hard. This certainly beat the alternative James had been considering, still fueled by the annoyance that Sirius had missed training. Needless to say, there would be far less words and relied only on the action of their wands. "Well out with it then."

"I'm getting to it you impatient bastard," James grumbled, hitting him with a harsh glare. He watched as Sirius turned comical and raised his hands in silent surrender, leaning back as he awaited whatever it was James was going to say.

James had to grit his teeth at how nonchalant he looked, as though he hadn't a care in the world. Though he knew it was a front, a well-developed one that hid whatever it was that was actually going on in that thick head, he'd appreciate his honestly with him.

"Look, I was out of line, telling Charlotte to stay away from you but you need to understand, I was certain she had no feelings for you, and you were showing signs that you might fancy her, so the logical thing was to direct her away from you."

He left out the bit where he didn't think they were a good match, as Sirius already seemed more annoyed than necessary. Really, in James' mind, he was doing him a favour. If he could be saved from the pain of rejection, wouldn't that be a good thing? Though, what he was trying not to think about, was how he would kick his arse if the situations were switched between he and Sirius, and Sirius was warding Lily away from him.

"You're right, that was out of line," Sirius said, nodding his head slowly. James could barely look up, shame flooding in the room like a wave of hot wax. He'd never felt like such an ass. Other than the time he snogged the girl Remus fancied, which he hadn't known of course. That was something he would _never_ do again. "Though I've never been fond of Evans, you're Evans, I still helped you, and you _like_ Charlotte, so the whole things just utter barmy."

James couldn't help but feel his nose twitch at the completely credulous way Sirius had specified both Evan's girls. He didn't really mind that Sirius considered Lily to be _his_ Evans, but it meant that he considered Charlotte to be his. There was just something a little… buggered about that. He decided he'd bring it up at a later point. He was in the middle of apologising, after all. Concentrating, once again on the conversation, James nodded slowly in agreeance.

"I know," James said, heaving his head back with a weary sigh. He didn't even know himself what had made him act so odd the past few days. He'd been an utter prat, and the excuses he was trying to concoct in his head just didn't match up to what he'd said and done. Even his oddly uncomfortable feeling a few moments ago was foreign and strange. As Sirius awaited for him to continue on, he found himself scratching the back of his neck, a wince frozen on his face "And that's not even mentioning what I said to charlotte. I don't _really_ believe she doesn't deserve you. I mean, if anything it's the other way round-"

"Hold it….You said what to Charlotte?" Sirius said, leaning forward and holding a hand up. James paused and felt his brows rise of their own accord. Sirius had said that Charlotte hadn't told him much of anything, but he thought she might of at least told him _that_ , especially considering it actually involves Sirius, and would explain the entire situation rather well. It explains why Charlotte was so annoyed, and why James refused to tell Sirius or the boys what was said between them. Strangely, it appeared it was Charlotte who was holding loyalty above everything else, something that made James feel a little...uncomfortable

"Largely, a lot of bullshit. Not the point however." James said quickly, running a hand down his face.

Sirius watched him for a few moments, and James knew he was assessing whether he should pursue what he'd said to Charlotte. James, in serious situations, didn't tend to dawdle on the insignificant, so it was unsurprising really that Sirius chose to leave his question for another time. "Do tell me what the point is, cause, honestly, you're making it worse."

James had to agree with his friend there. He'd managed to bugger everything quite spectacularly, and only seemed to continue to do so the longer he had his mouth opened. James longed for the days where he was charming with his words, acting as a soothing balm rather than a vicious whip.

"I was an ass, I didn't mean it. I'm sorry, and I'll help with Charlotte if that's what you want." James words came out as a rush. Though a flurry of syllables, Sirius knew it wasn't any less sincere. James watched anxiously as Sirius let himself drop back into the chair. He ran a hand through his hair and rubbed his eyes. The action made James realise he looked exhausted. Really, Sirius looked like a wreck. More so than usual at-least.

"I forgive you," Sirius said eventually. Just as James expected, and hoped, the guilt fell from his shoulders. He let himself seep into his chair, a lazy smile drawn on his face. "But i'm good on the Charlotte front."

Well that certainly surprised him. James had been sure that he would welcome his help. Charlotte wasn't like other girls. If you flirted with her, she would blush, but would usually bite back with harsh words and quick wit. She seemed to be constantly angry, only when she was distracted did she seem remotely happy, and even then, it seemed her good moods were often spoiled. Charlotte was complicated, more complicated than any girl Sirius had an interest in, and James had just assumed that he would want the help of the only other person that would know her better (not including Lily who wouldn't willingly talk to Sirius if promised the head girl position.)

James cleared his throat, trying to appear as easygoing as possible. "Oh really? I thought you were considering her." If James was attempting to appear nonchalant, it was quite clear in the stony way he awaited Sirius' answer that he wasn't as indifferent to Sirius' answer as he pretended to be.

Sirius shrugged, rubbing his eyes. "I was, I still am. Doesn't mean I need your help."

"Alright," James said, rather affronted. There was a quiet confidence in Sirius' words, and James wasn't too sure he liked that. "You missed training you know? I should really kick your ass for that."

Sirius tilted his head slightly and gave the barest of smiles. "I think you can give me a bit of leeway, all things considered." James nodded, offering it to him easily with a smile. He wasn't nearly as annoyed as he was the night before, allowing himself to mull over the past few days before he approached Remus. Their team had managed to go through the drills without him, and turned out on the better side of things. It was more that Sirius had willingly chosen not to attend that bothered him. James cant even imagine what he must of been doing to miss practise. He was always late, but he would never miss it entirely.

"Where were you?" James asked, nodding his head. James watched as Sirius seemed to be hesitant to talk for a moment, then almost seemed urgent to tell him. That urgency fell away, and James could only assume that whatever it was that Sirius _wasn't_ telling him, wasn't very important.

"With Charlotte mostly. Speaking of the better half of the Evan's tree," James didn't seem to notice how Sirius rushed through his words, and found himself rolling his eyes at the flimsy insult. "Have you apologised to _her_ yet? I don't know what you said, because she didn't tell anyone, not even Lily, but I'm pretty sure you cut her bad. She didn't talk to me for two days before I had to force the conversation out of her."

James cleared his throat and shook his head slightly as a sign of dissent. Now James was certainly surprised about _that_. He had assumed that Charlotte would at least tell her sister what had gone on, considering how Lily had reacted to him the night before. In fact, it would seem like an ideal thing, sharing this sort of thing with Lily. She was very understanding most of the time, and was always plainly honest, something both she and Charlotte seemed to have in common. James thought harder, and couldn't imagine any reason for not telling Lily. It almost seemed comical that Charlotte would chose not to tell her.

He could imagine himself, sitting across from her and confining in her all his deepest thoughts. She would sit their with a look of understanding, a compassionate lift to her lips her forest eyes soft and welcoming. She would offer her advice and he would listen intently.

It was Sirius' hand shoving him out of his fantasy which brought him back to what they were originally talking about. Sirius seemed to understand what was going on inside his head, for all he did was sigh and roll his eyes. James had to blink his eyes a few times to bring him out of the confusion of where he was and what he was doing. The more it happened through the week, the more time it took for him to remember what was actually going on around him. Not that he didn't find fantasising about his favourite witch to be marvelous, he'd just much rather it in the privacy of his room so he wouldn't have to be worried about any interruptions that might cause embarrassment. Not just in the _literal_ sense.

He'd been in care of magical creatures, wondering to himself what his lovely Evan's did during the christmas break. He'd sworn it was only 5 minutes into the lesson when he'd seen her across the room and he'd got lost in the waves of her hair. Surely it wasn't all that surprising that her hair reminded him of christmas. It was all too easy to imagine her in a flowing red dress. It was soon afterwards that he was imagining her _without_ the dress, though he had been truly lost the moment he saw the witch. Suddenly his name was being called out by Professor Kettleburn. It had been the Wizards overtly large nose being shoved in his face which had made him leap of his chair and fall to the floor. Of course the class laughed, all thinking it was another one of 'Potter's jokes'. Even Sirius rolled his eyes with the slightest touch of contempt. He'd sat on the freezing tiles for a good few minutes before he was finally able to stand up. Everyone was packing up their books and leaving the classroom in a timely fashion.

He'd paused, watching as they all left the room, chatting animatedly. _Surely the lesson wasn't over_ was his only thought as he watched them go. But, as he did after every COMC lesson, Kettleburn began cleaning up the classroom, mumbling incoherently to himself. He'd caught Charlotte's stare as he rushed to exit the classroom, finding her standing beside the door, watching him with, quite possibly, more confusion than James was showing. When their eyes met, her confusion dropped and she became emotionless once more, turning and leaving the classroom without another look back.

That had been the last time he'd managed to have eye contact with Charlotte, and it hadn't even been intentional. After that, he'd packed up his stuff and ran from the classroom, hoping to catch up with the witch who apparently was the only one who saw his odd behaviour. However _she_ still didn't want anything to do with him. Sirius nudged him again, urging him to talk.

"Yeah, not my most brilliant moment, I must admit," James said, rubbing the back of his neck with a pained grimace. Sirius muttered out a half serious _duh_ , which James just ignored. Other than his disturbing ability to black out of an entire lesson by daydreaming, he was most worried about fixing his mistake with Charlotte. Well, that might not be completely true. He did care about Quidditch quite a lot...but Charlotte definitely came after that. "I'm not sure how to go about it honestly."

"Why don't you just lock her up in a room, you definitely seem to have some sort of fetish for enclosed spaces," Sirius joked pointing to all four walls of the tightly compacted room. Jame gave him a look which loosely translated to 'really want to talk about this?'.

"Funny, i thought you were the one with Fetishes?" Sirius rolled his eyes and chuckled to himself, perhaps a little darker than necessary. James smiled to himself and allowed a few moments of quiet, simply enjoying things being okay between him and his mate. It wasn't often James and Sirius fought. Well, at least not in the genuine sense. They fought all the time, but there was always an understanding that they were being facetious. Once they went so far as to become physical, tackling each other to the ground. It sounded a lot more exciting than it was. They ended up just laughing about it and walking off as best mates. It certainly left others standing by, who'd been loudly declaring their enthusiasm for the ensuing fight, to watch on with a mighty amount of confusion.

"Look, i'm admittedly, not that great with women's emotions," Sirius said modestly. James rolled his eyes, because he knew Sirius was about as modest as a peacock and the innocent look on his face spoke of all sorts of corruption. Though the same could be said about him... "But i'm fairly certain she isn't angry with you. She's hurt, and upset about whatever you said, but she wouldn't push you away if you approached her right."

James wasn't sure how close the two were, and considering how angry Charlotte looked when she stormed into the room, he would say they weren't as close as Sirius seemed to think. He was trying _real_ hard not to be pleased about that. He blamed it on the honour of being her friend first. "Right…"

"Well now that we've talked it through, think we can leave the room?"

Both boys turned to face the wall when they heard a muffled voice utter… _something._ Really, it was like trying to understand someone talking underwater

"What'd he say?" Sirius asked, frowning and facing James a moment. When all James could do was shrug, he turned back towards the door, taking a few steps forward before yelling, " WHAT'D YOU SAY?"

" _not till you hug!"_ Was the muffled reply of Remus. Obviously, neither boys could see remus, but they knew he was likely leaning against the door, or lack there of, flipping through a book with a bored look on his face. Though anyone walking by would just see Remus and recognise his typical bookish self, they would see through it. He was most definitely smug, even if he sounded exasperated at everything.

"Remus you little punk, bring the door back!" James whined, standing beside Sirius and kicking the wall pointlessly. Pointless only because he'd encouraged Remus to put a _quietening_ charm on the room. Muffling any sound within the room but not exactly making them silent.

" _I don't hear any hugging!"_ Came his bored reply, respectively with a fair amount of amused smugness. James was beginning to regret allowing Remus to help him...

"Like you could hear us hugging anyway!" Sirius barked, his hands roaming through his jacket and trouser pockets, no doubt to grab his wand. James sighed and stepped forward, placing a hand on Sirius shoulder to get his attention.

Sirius looked at him, and James knew he was still pissed. But, he forgave him. It was Sirius who wrapped James in the hug, as it always was. The boy, being so deprived of physical affection as a child welcomed it freely when it came to his friend and his… _friends_. For him, there was no shame in hugging his mates, as the other pure blooded wizards would have him believe, rather it was his version of a handshake.

"There we go, open it Moony," Sirius said, kicking the wall for good riddance.

" _Actually, the door won't appear for at least another 20 minutes. Sorry mates, bit of miscalculation on my part."_

"Miscalculation my ass. YOU'RE GOING TO GET IT REMUS!" James winced, the noise ricocheting through the pathetic excuses of a room at a surprising strength. Shaking his head, he walked back to the two small chairs and desk and sat down, watching as Sirius did the same. He did so, not before cursing the wall, Remus and Remus' future children. He had a touch for the dramatic.

James sighed, rummaging through his pockets and throwing anything he could find on the table for the both of them to inspect. "Well, we've got 20 minutes to blow in an enclosed room and all I have in my pocket is my wand, some gum and a pack of cards. Fancy a game?" James asked, holding up the pack of cards that were in need of replacement.

"Sounds like a plan. Pass the gum." James tossed him a piece as he took the deck out of its pack and began shuffling. They were self shuffling cards, but ever since he, Remus, Sirius and Pete snuck into a muggle gentleman's club, it seemed the more appropriate fashion of starting a game, however unnecessary.

He began dealing and rose a brow when Sirius pulled out a smoke from his pocket and lit it, taking a deep breathe in before sighing the smoke out. "Is that wise? No ventilation," James pointed out, his brows raised and a half smile on his face.

"Am I known for being wise?" Sirius asked with a grin.

"True enough. Your up."

* * *

 **(~Charlotte~)**

There was hardly anyone in the great hall, but there he was, by the far end. She'd actually had the distinct pleasure of witnessing him sit down.

For some odd reason, he decided to sit right in the middle of a group of girls. Charlotte wasn't quite sure who they were, but they certainly knew who he was. She walked over at a slow pace, watching with amusement as they bickered at him, likely wanting his annoying presence to leave. Sirius seemed highly entertained by it all, and just sat there as each girl had her quip. Once they'd done, he said something. One could only guess from their disgusted expressions that they'd been unimpressed with his reply.

All four girls stood up and gathered their things leaving Sirius alone. One girl, the tallest of the bunch with hair the colour of snow, quietly snipped something to Sirius, to which he just loudly laughed. She bristled and walked to her friends, not before Sirius sent some sort of charm to the snow-haired girl's behind. Charlotte had to wince as It hit his desired mark, and he watched with a smirk as she squealed and jumped around to see who the offender had been. Sirius must have been in a particularly annoying mood, as he blew her a kiss.

She whipped out her wand, and aimed it directly at Sirius' head, but at that exact moment, professor Mcgonagall decided to stroll in. The snow-haired girl dropped her wand, and went for glaring at Sirius instead. It made no impact on him, and once she understood that, she stalked off with her group. It was clearly evident the two had history, and if that little charm was any say in the matter, it was the kind of history Charlotte didn't care to hear about.

Once they were gone, Charlotte, who had been walking on the right side of the table where Sirius was, made herself known to him.

"You know, I was actually hoping she might cast something," Charlotte said with a sigh, throwing her bag on the table, causing an unknowing Sirius to jump in shock. She sighed dejectedly and watched with a half smile as Sirius rolled his eyes, a small smile on his lips as he took a gulp of his coffee.

Charlotte had walked down the corridor past the library, the one near the great hall, peeking in through its enormous doors. She'd dissected the common room and took a quick look in the boys dorm, unable to find a soul within its walls. She, even went so far as to check out the Quidditch pitch. She hadn't been able to find Sirius anywhere, all morning, midday or afternoon. It was Remus who had eventually directed her to where he last saw him. Remus also mentioned that he'd seen James around the area not long before. Deciding the risk of a run in with James was too great, she went for roaming the halls instead.

"Where the bloody hell have you been?" She asked with a frown, noting that he looked completely normal, somewhat of a difference to the past few days.

"Locked in an escapable room, why? Miss me?" He asked, waggling his brows and nudging her shoulder with his. She sniffled a snort, curiously watching as he made himself some dinner, with little care and a small smile on his face. She had a feeling he knew she was staring, if that small smile had anything to say about it.

"Went on a bloody hunt for you." Charlotte muttered, turning away to grab a drink for herself.

As she leaned forward, Charlotte found her eyes connecting for a few moments with the girl across from her, on the Hufflepuff table. No matter how hard she tried, Charlotte couldn't remember her name. Mandy? Melissa?…she knew that the girl with Raven coloured hair was a year above her, but that was it really. Her brows furrowed at the extended connection they shared, and furrowed deeper when the girl across from her gave a closed lipped smile and continued talking with the other girl beside her. Charlotte found it to be rather odd behaviour, normally people didn't just smile like that, for this girl probably had no idea who she was.

"Not that I don't find the idea of you hunting me absolutely delicious," Charlotte looked back to Sirius and forcibly rolled her eyes. She didn't really find it surprising that he was seemingly unaffected by yesterday's miss happenings. She was quite shameful to admit that she would have liked for him to be at least slightly affected by it all. Though she blamed it on Lily and her past transgressions with boys that left her whining about the ones who let her down. It made her even more grateful that she'd never actually had feelings for the idiot, lest she become just another one of his flings. "Why?"

"Well, I'm bored of study, cannot muster a patronus and can't find a single way of getting the bloody ingredients for an-" Sirius watched her in amusement as she leant in to whisper: "Animagus potion. I need a distraction."

Sirius hummed to himself, smiling as he turned back to his food.

"So naturally you thought of me as a backup distraction, i'm actually quite hurt." Though his reiteration had been light, she couldn't help but ponder upon the fact that, we're situations reversed, she likely would be rather hurt by such a statement. No one liked hearing that they are being used as a source of distraction.

"You're not a backup you oaf. You're my friend. Probably the best I've ever had," Charlotte admitted briskly, rolling her eyes when Sirius smirked, his mood rolling around instantly. For the second time that week, she found herself suddenly in his hold, his arms wrapped around her head and a hand stroking the back of her hair. Her nose was smothered right in his hard chest, and she was trying not to think about the odd smell that seemed to emanate off him. _What was it with these boys and smelling the the bloody forest_? Perhaps it was some sort of men's aftershave.

"Charlotte! You say such sweet things," Sirius cooed, kissing the top of her head with a loud smack. Charlotte wished she was used to his exuberance and alarming lack of propriety, but she wasn't, and had a strong feeling she may very well never become accustomed to it. Probably a good thing too...

"Off," she growled, straightening her shirt and tie when she once again held possession of her own head. He winked, she glared and they both went back to their food. Charlotte never even questioned why he spent the evening in, as he put it, an escapable room. Whether or not she was curious, she had more important things on her mind. One of which, obviously, being the upcoming prank.

She'd all but planned it in her mind and refused to speak a word of it to Sirius until she'd identified every aspect that could, would and might occur. If she was going to have a go at their foolishness, she might as well do it right. Sirius commented that the 'marauders' did it much differently, preferring to design the prank as a group, rather than one individual coming up with all the ideas and bringing it to the table. Charlotte found it hard to believe it was _always_ like that. Surely ideas were brought before the group and they followed that idea to the point.

Either all, Sirius wasn't hearing a word of her plans, nor did she have any interest in hearing his own thoughts on what they should devise against James. Sirius would have his time to prank James whenever he wanted but she, never feeling the inspiration or urge before, wasn't going to let this chance pass her by. She was going to prank James, and he would know it was _her_ idea.

She shared this view with Sirius, and he remained sceptical, suggesting they bring in 'moony' or Pete to work out the logistics. She gave him a look and refused to talk more on the topic. Instead, she grounded him with questions about the animagus potion he, regrettably, could not answer. That left her in a sticky position where she would either have to seek Remus' or Pete's help, which wasn't an appealing offer as she hardly knew the gents, have another vigorous search through the library, again not the most tempting offer, or reconcile her differences with James.

Considering it was _he_ who was in the wrong, she had zero intention of approaching him which obviously left her with a bit of a dilemma. Finals were coming up, and assuming she still had the work ethic to place in _at least_ the top five, she needed to continue to be as studious as possible. This left all her free time to hitting the books, and trying to absorb as much information she could in such a short amount of time. Unfortunately, her hopes of topping Lily that year were all but buggered. All James' fault really.

Charlotte endeavoured to plan a study session of sorts with Sirius, but he wouldn't hear of it. _A waste of his valuable time_ , a waste indeed. Though Sirius was smart, in his own rights, he had no care for his education. If a topic held his interest, curiosity would bring him to learn bits about it. Otherwise, he spent his time at the back of the classroom swinging in his chair, lively chatting to someone he doesn't know, or doodling all over his parchment.

He was distracted so incredibly easy, Charlotte hardly believed he retained any information at all. At first at least. They would be walking to the common room, and the journey would take twice as long as detours were taken, and they were stopped half a dozen times, either by Sirius himself or some other individual. Half the time Charlotte had been talking to him, and she was sure that he hadn't heard a word. When she pointed this out, he took it upon himself to summarise their entire conversation.

She'd awkwardly nodded and walked away, knowing that he would be standing behind her smirking, quite satisfied with himself. She started up the stairs and turned around to see Sirius follow her. Charlotte warned him that, unless he planned on joining her for study, he'd best join the other boys. He skulked off, but not before ensuring she would be at the Quidditch game on the weekend, and wishing her a goodnight.

Unfortunately, he left before she could actually tell him otherwise. _Oh well._

 **~ Meet me at the Quidditch pitch at 11:30. Wear a scarf ~**

 **J.P**

"Lily, WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?" Charlotte yelled, holding up the note and watching as her sister shrugged before putting on her robe and opening the door to the dorm.

"DON'T YOU-" it was pointless. Lily was gone and didn't seem to care that Charlotte was in a bit of a state. Truth be told, she probably looked awfully scary, he eyes ablaze and hair sticking up at all sorts of odd angles that shouldn't really be possible with long hair. She held the parchment in the air as though it were filth, and could barely move her eyes to look at it, so disgusted with its contents.

Truth be told, she'd done all she could to avoid James at every turn. It wasn't easy considering he seemed to know where she was for a large percentage of the time. That didn't suade her however. If he found her, she would proceed to ignore him, until he trudged off in defeat or till it was her who left. She was good at this, avoiding the problem. Though Lily could appreciate the humour in the entire situation, considering her feelings for James, even _she_ thought Charlotte was being a tad immature about the whole ordeal.

Lily was also quite quickly becoming annoyed with James insistent desire to seek peace with Charlotte. As Charlotte had gone back to spending more time with Lily, it meant that James was often just around the both of them at any one time. If not James, then Sirius in his place. Lily had assumed that after the whole kiss ordeal, Charlotte and Sirius would no longer be friends. Why, she stood flabbergasted as they seemed to chat on as easily as before the next morning. Charlotte had posted the question to what she had actually been expecting. Apparently, Lily had expected to find Charlotte peeling the remains of Sirius off their dorm room walls. A silly thought to be sure, but Charlotte understood where she was coming from.

James however? Charlotte was no where near ready to reconcile with that bastard. If to show proof, she scrunched up that piece of filthy parchment and pitched it across the room huffing about idiotic quidditch captains who had too much time on their hands. How did he even get in her dorm? It was locked to only Charlotte and Lily. That meant one of them had to open the door for him, and it certainly wasn't Charlotte who opened the door. Perhaps he confunded Lily to do it. Excusing the idea that Lily would actually allow him in their room freely, which was a stupid idea in of itself, it was the only alternative.

Either way, it left Charlotte in a ruined mood. Meet him at the Quidditch pitch at 11:30 at night, was he joking? Not only would she be fast sleep by that point in time, the Quidditch pitch would be glazed over with ice from the drastic drop in weather. She wouldn't, even if she desired it, step foot outside of the castle a minute after 8.

And she held that opinion for the few hours that lead up to 11. For, she spent 2 studying, another hour with that stupid potions list that was as undecipherable as that bloody animagus book that was quickly gathering dust underneath her bed. She hadn't picked that filthy thing up since that party a few weeks ago. Since James had shown her how to cast a patronus, and she could finally trust he knew what he was talking about, it no longer seemed necessary to spend endless hours trying to decipher.

Not having been able to cast a patronus for far longer than a week was starting to become an issue. Not just because it meant she was slowly moving backwards in the way of her 'animagus training'. It implied that her happiest moments were with James, and that was an issue. A big one. She wouldn't accept that. She refused to believe that she wasn't happy without James. Hadn't she spent the last few days quite content with spending her time with Sirius? There were times when she had forgotten all the drama with James, and it was just her and Sirius. Yet, she'd try and cast a patronus, and all she would get in return was a puff of smoke more pathetic than her attempts to cast a vanishing spell. She had spent two whole classes trying to make a bloody pot of ink disappear, and she swore to Lily left and right that if anything, the ink pot was _more_ visible.

Spells aside, Charlotte was starting to realise that things had been going alright for her for a few weeks. She'd finally learnt a bit about animagus, she wasn't glued to Lily's side every day. She had friends to speak of and her spellman-ship had actually been improving. She'd never admit it to Lily, but she had even been drinking less.

 _Well other than tonight_. She still had firewhiskey stashed away, and she figured she could sneak in 2 glasses before Lily got back from prefect patrol and ruined her night.

3 glasses later and she felt no better about anything that had been on her mind for the last few hours. She had a headache and couldn't focus on the words on the parchment before her. It was then she heard Lily making her way to their dorm. She stashed the bottle and roamed her eyes around the room, trying to see if it left any impression of her current state.

Lily didn't seem at all suspicious when she came back into the room, talking about the first-years she gave detention to. When Charlotte actually seemed to be listening to her, with all her attention, Lily slowly grew apprehensive. She gave her an odd look and watched her carefully. Lily had a fantastic way of making someone feel especially uncomfortable, especially when she knew _something_ was going on. Somehow, Lily always knew when Charlotte was drinking. Charlotte watched with a groan as Lily notice a bit of crumpled parchment beside her cupboard, flattening it out and reading it.

Charlotte cleared her throat and stood from her bed, swinging her hands by her sides awkwardly as she watched Lily's attention move from the parchment in her hands to herself. "I better be off then," Charlotte said, nodding slightly to the parchment in Lily's hands, and taking it from her when Lily held it out with a surprised glance.

Charlotte didn't really give her much time to argue her opinion on the matter, as she grabbed her scarf and winter robe on the way out. It took her a few goes, but she finally got the scarf on by the time she got to the bottom of the stairs and she had the robe tightly wrapped around her by the time she reached the painting. It wasn't until she reached the fourth floor and found the statue Sirius had shown her that led out of the castle that she found herself thinking on what she was actually doing.

Charlotte was still very much angry with James, and didn't think leaving a scrap of parchment on her bed saying to meet past curfew should qualify as a good attempt to rectify the situation. Perhaps angry was too strong a word. _Pissed off,_ was probably a better explanation for her current feelings. She knew _very_ well that, had she not of had that whiskey, she wouldn't have even thought to leave her dorm. She wouldn't have cared if Lily was suspicious, and would have told her to mind her own bloody business anyway. She didn't exactly want to go back to the dorm now, however, and face her sister's wrath. For Lily would grill her with questions, whether it be about James or her odd mood that could only be related to her drinking.

With a sigh, she moved the statue. Wrapping her robes around her tightly and her wand lightly lit, she made her way out of the castle, still questioning what it was she was actually doing. Charlotte almost felt sober when she was finally out of the grounds, and she wouldn't put it past blaming the icy wind that whipped at her persistently.

She saw him before he saw her, and in a short moment of hesitation, she considered simply turning around and walking back to her dorm as though the thought never flitted past her mind. That was precisely when he spotted her from afar. He'd been leaning on the outside walls of the Gryffindor dressing rooms, looking up to the sky with his arms crossed. Unsurprisingly, Charlotte also looked to the sky, wondering what it was that had caught his attention so well, but all she saw were the stars.

Dropping her head back down to look at him, her confusion shifted until she found herself frowning. She hadn't made a noise, but he looked over at her anyway, almost tripping over in his haste to come to her side as quickly as possible. She stifled an obnoxious snort to cover up her smile, shaking her head. She couldn't let him know she was amused, then he would assume that she was in a good mood, and she truly bloody wasn't. Not with the wind flogging her.

She could barely see him when he'd been against the wall, but she could see him much better now, and she wasn't surprised by what she saw. Messy hair, wide eyes that were _alive_ with excitement. Loose tie and an overly large sweater falling off his shoulders. What surprised her least of all was the massive smile he wore like a medal.

"You wore the scarf?" Course his first words weren't an apology, something she hadn't expected, but hoped for, none the less. She'd also hoped he wouldn't just stand there smirking at her, like he understood _everything_. Charlotte gave him a dirty look and tucked the long black material more securely into her robe, trying to cover up its existence.

"Of course I wore a bloody scarf, it's freezing. Now, before one of my limbs _fucking falls off_...what am I doing out here James?" She'd ensured some of her words were more forceful than others, so he actually understood that she was still rightfully pissed at him. Not only did he make her feel shit, he'd virtually been the cause of last night's unfortunate events that ended with Sirius having a bloody nose.

Of all things, he has the audacity, the nerve, to sigh loudly. If his aim of this short rendezvous was to seriously piss her off, he was certainly headed in the right direction. Godric, she wasn't even that angry anymore. Or at least, she hadn't been. How was it that he managed to elicit such strong emotions from her that seemed to come from absolutely nowhere.

"Charlotte, I'm sorry for what I said. I don't think that your undeserving of Sirius, nor do I think your friendship with him is a bad thing. You're a good influence on him. On all of us really." Charlotte gave him a deadpan expression, and turned slightly away from him. _Good influence_ her ass. James must have been desperate to make amends, as he was just bloody making stuff up now. "I'm sorry I hurt you, and tried to tell you what to do. That's the last thing I want to do."

Charlotte observed his sincerity and let out a great sigh, watching the puff of smoke that accompanied it, reminding her how bloody cold it was. It may of also reminded her of a certain leopard she hadn't seen for days, but she chose not to dwindle on the thought longer than necessary, considering it made her particularly dreary and she was already utterly freezing and exhausted.

"That's all good and fine James, but why are we near the Quidditch pitch," Charlotte argued with a sigh, gesturing around her. She watched with a small frown as his lip lifted slightly, watching her with, dare she say, a nervous look. The mere suggestion of him being nervous seemed about as plausible as his apology being 100% honest. He was sorry, but at the same time, he didn't seem sorry at all. He seemed genuinely regretful for upsetting her, but the more she watched him, and the small smirk on his lips, the less she could trust what he was saying.

"Well, I figured I'd finally take you up on that offer from a few months ago," He suggested, his nervousness, if that's really what it had been, fading in place of a smirk that made his eyes crinkle and his dimples appear. Oh boy, was she in trouble now.

Charlotte found herself huddling her face into her scarf, closing her eyes for a few moments to clear her head from whatever was causing it to freeze over. If only it was just bloody freezing weather that was causing her trouble, really it made it only harder to work things out. "Which one?" Charlotte asked, her eyes managing to narrow in suspicion. As far as she knew, the only offer they had ever shared, was the whole 'deal' with Lily and Animagus, but that was already sorted, so what was the idiot _really_ talking about?

"We…" James said, raising his brows and pulling something out from behind him. Charlotte stared at him with a bland look as he presented his broom before her, thinking of the many ways she could use that bloody piece of wood to inflict pain on him. Unfortunately, he wasn't skilled in Legilimens, and just stood there, excitement lighting his eyes brighter than they had been when he say her walk onto the pitch. "...are going flying"

Charlotte looked at him, watching as his smirk slowly dropped, until it was upside down to what it had been. "Are you daft? Won't we freeze?"

"Winter Quidditch coat, self warming. Quidditch goggles, improves sight by 20% and Quidditch gloves, allows you to actually bloody feel your fingers," James laughed, rolling his eyes as though it had been obvious that all that would be sitting beside them the entire time. Charlotte looked down towards the pile of bits and pieces James had gestured towards, watching him with distrust as he began handing her articles of clothing to put on.

First came the coat, then the gloves. Charlotte put them on with slow dragging hesitation, rolling her eyes and slapping James' hands away when he tried to help her put on the gloves. Once she'd pulled the quidditch coat over her own robes, she looked towards James, frowning when he gestured towards the goggles in his hands, silently asking permission. Truth be told, she didn't particularly want or need his help, but her hands were rather restricted with the gloves (which were doing a wonderful job at warming her hands by the way), so just sighed and nodded stiffly, trying not to hit him when he came behind her and moved her hair to put the goggles on.

She pushed him away when he was taking too long, and adjusted them on her face properly, trying not to show how impressed she was. The weather was hardly affecting her eyesight anymore, and she wouldn't be against saying she could almost see more in them, as though the shadows weren't as dark. She obviously didn't hide it well, as James seemed to take her reaction as an incentive to inflate his chest proudly. Charlotte rolled her eyes, mumbling incoherently to the side as she scuffed her shoe on the rough ground and awaited for James to put on his gear.

Though she imagined she looked rather ridiculous in her gear, she couldn't say the same for James. He looked incredibly comfortable, as though it had all been made especially to fit his exact body size like a second skin. She could appreciate silently that it did nothing to hide his framed shoulders and toned chest. Godric, if anything, it highlighted it. Whilst she stood there glaring at James, silently acknowledging his physique, he was already mounted on his broom, looking over at Charlotte with a wide smile. Apparently, not at all affected by the look she was giving him.

"I only see one broom," Charlotte pointed out through gritted teeth, realising with a great amount despair what that would mean. He managed to steal all that quidditch gear for her, but couldn't manage a bloody broom. She was starting to remember why she'd stopped talking to him in the first place, for he had a certain attraction to stupid ideas and badly thought through plans.

"Your flying with me," He said, shrugging his shoulders and gesturing to the back of his broom, that honestly didn't leave much room between him, and the head of the broom. She certainly didn't fancy sitting on the bloody bristles, but it would mean she'd have to sit right behind him, something she also didn't fancy all that much. "Don't you trust me?" James asked brazenly, smirking at her. He knew she didn't miss his tone, his dare. Godric, he was starting to understand her. She _practically_ had no choice now.

"I do, which might be the problem." Charlotte said, walking over to him briskly and assessing her place on the broom. She had been assessing, until the broom disappeared and her head was shoved firmly between his neck and shoulder, forcing her to spit out his hair that managed to find its way in her mouth..

"Forgive me, please?" Charlotte looked to the sky, as much as she could considering her position, begging Circe to give her the strength to not tear this boy to shreds, for she'd had it with these idiots just grabbing her and pulling her into hugs. Shouldn't they know by now she might not appreciate it as much as they apparently did.

"Bloody hell, you're forgiven. Get off," Charlotte snapped, pushing him away from her and ignoring his laughter. Rubbing her cheeks, which were red from the cold weather, and nothing more, she fixed him with a glare. "I swear, you and Sirius must have grown up deprived of physical affection."

James considered her for a moment, tilting his head slightly. "Well, you're right on Sirius' part." Charlotte winced, looking to the ground for a moment, before looking up again and nodding swiftly. Sirius had since shared a little more of the joyous tales of his childhood, and it almost made her feel guilty for moping around like a child for not having any friends, whining about it every few minutes. James smiled knowingly and passed the broom to his other hand, stepping onto his easily. He smirked at her and gestured to the back off the broom. "Let's do this."

Charlotte didn't like how he had a little too much confidence in that smirk. She didn't like the smirk at all, not really. Well, when it was at her expense at least. A funny thought considering she had a feeling it was _always_ at her expense. "You're aware that, just because I've forgiven you, doesn't mean I'm not pissed, right?" Charlotte ensured to clarify, crossing her arms against her chest, refusing to step closer to the broom until he got it into his thick head that this didn't change _anything_. Well, it changed some, but he certainly didn't need to know that.

"Of course," he answered, giving her a wide smile. Fortunately for him, his smile was his best feature. Well, best feature that was appropriate to talk about. Charlotte could feel any afflictions she held towards him melt into slurry with that one small innocent look. She felt that feeling, the one she refused to acknowledge, try to understand and completely disregard at all costs, hit her quite hard. She looked to the right, and glared at the ground with a fury she'd only offered to Lily the night she'd told her parents about how bad her drinking habit was.

Charlotte looked back at James, seeing that he was adjusting his gloves with an utterly idiotic expression on his face. Her eyes were rolling before she could help it, and she found a small smile finding its way onto her lips as his features intensified. She caught herself before she all but smiled properly, frowning again. Damnit, she couldn't stay mad at him for a single moment could she? He had to go do something completely stupid or charming and any part of her that held the slightest flicker of a grudge slipped away. At least _that_ made her mad.

"Damn you." Charlotte growled, walking to his side and shoving him slightly so he would shuffle forward on the broom so she wouldn't have to stand _so_ close. He obliged, and Charlotte perched on the broom, cursing when she was still quite close to him. She would move back, but her butt would end up on the bristles of the bloody broom. She would move forward, and there was James. Typically, it was safer to sit as close to the first rider, but she wasn't going to oblige that particular notion, not today at least.

James seemed to find her predicament humorous, as he looked behind and smirked, rolling his eyes when he saw her hesitation. "Just wrap your arms around my stomach, and when you're comfortable we will start off slow." Was that smugness? He definitely sounded smug. _jerk._ Charlotte hit his back, and smiled darkly when he flinched slightly, though regretted the action when she thought on the fact he would be directing the both of them.

In fact, she hadn't even given a thought to the idea that they were about to go flying. Charlotte hadn't flown since… Godric, over 3 years ago. And she wasn't sure it had even been worth it, as she got caught and was banned from using broom's at school for the rest of the year (not that she would anyway). Not only could their parents not afford a broom for her, a humorous idea considering they could more than afford to buy Lily that dueling kit. It was top of the market and a fantastic tool for any achieved dueler to have. Not to mention she'd also got a fancy uniform of sorts. Charlotte had said she looked ridiculous, and rightfully admonished by her parents, but he couldn't help but appreciate the fabric and quality. Surely they could have afforded a second hand broom _at least_. Why, a _Cleansweep One_ hardly went for anything these days, 80 galleons no less.

Her lack of broom aside, she hadn't actually ridden a broom for 3 years, and when James suggested flying, she's assumed they would have their own brooms, with the freedom to start as slow or quickly as she desired. Why, she would be putting her all her trust in James' ability to direct a _flying stick_ in the air. Now that she thought about it that way, no wonder her parents forbid her to get a broom.

With a fairly shaky sigh, probably because of the cold, she let a hand rest on James' back, the other hesitantly going around to his stomach. She didn't actually touch him, figuring it would be much better to have her hands there _in case_ something went wrong. Charlotte heard James sigh, letting go of the broom for a moment and grabbing both her hands behind him and locking them around his stomach, pulling her forward. She rewarded his efforts with a hit to the stomach, winding him, but apparently not enough to dash his efforts. For some reason, no doubt his enormous pride, all he did was cough out a laugh.

He released his hold on the broom from his legs back to his hands and leant forward slightly, preparing to take off. Charlotte instinctively moved closer and hugged him tighter, gritting her teeth together tightly. Godric, she was doing all she could to ignore the fact how closely she was compacted against James' chest. No easy task considering she could feel him breathing and his muscle tense beneath her, bracing before they began moving. There was also the problem of his ridiculous hair that seemed to have the sole intention of directing all its stray hairs to her face. Then there was his smell... "This is a terrible idea." _For more reasons than one._

"Probably," James said with a laugh, turning slightly on the broom peek at her. She caught his eye and could only scoff when he winked. He laughed again, its effects echoing from his chest into Charlotte's. As James prepared to take off, a smirk plainly visible on his lips, she closed her eyes for a moment and prayed to anyone that was listening that she hadn't made a mistake forgiving the idiot. She didn't particularly fancy falling all because of her stupid decision to trust him again. Charlotte almost groaned when she realised she wasn't _just_ talking about the broom, and them flying, but the noise was lost the moment they lifted off the ground. As was her doubt. If she was going to trust the git, she might as well do it properly.

She regretted it the instant they began moving, at a much faster speed than James had ensured. _Git._

* * *

 **Hey all!**

 **So it has officially been a little over a year since i first posted this story. I feel like so much has changed in, what feels like, such a short time. I started this story with so much enthusiasm. Not to say i have lost it, but i certainly lost my pace along the way. At the start, i was throwing out chapters twice a month, sometimes more. These days, you're lucky to get a chapter out of me once a month ^_^**

 **I know the fight ended rather abruptly, but I didn't want to stretch the Siri/char/James fight longer than necessary. It's just background noise. The only reason i included it in the first place, was because i thought it would be an interesting way of getting Charlotte and Sirius closer. Next chapter is a Charlotte-Lily-Sirius chapter. Get keen.**

 **Time to answer some reviews considering i haven't for 3ish chapters. Only a few sorry, dont want to clog it all with reviews XD**

 **LonniLux** ~ _Hi there, i understand your trepidation about the 'love triangle'. Rest assured, it wont happen. Sirius might have some scarring, but Charlotte and him will never go there. I would rather not reveal the plot here, but feel free to PM me , i would be more than happy to put any worries you have to ease. In fact, i encourage it. I'd love to get your opinion if you think i'm going about their relationships a little skewed._

 **Gr8rockstarrox** ~ _You better bloody believe he's going to have to grovel. She might have forgiven him, but she has not forgotten. That boy is going to get his ass whooped. He'd got some things going on though, so you can't blame him ;) NO SPOILERS._

 **DeathCutie20** ~ _Damn i was proud of her too! I conferred with my friend about the punch, but i just felt like it was something she would do. Sorry i couldn't include the prank in this chapter, rest assured it will come soon ;)_

 **SeriouslySirius0409** ~ _Thanks! It has been a loooooong journey. Thanks for your support hun, it means alot to know you liked the chapter and will continue to stay updated xxx_

 **Nycsinger16** ~ _Damn, you read this in under a day? That is some impressive action right there. I once read a 500,000 word fic in a day, but i think i emerged an alien. XD Aw its good to hear you enjoy it! I will never stop! Well, i might one day, but hopefully i will stop when it is time, not when i can't or won't do it any longer._

 **Guest** ~ _Yeah she punched him, RIP Sirius. That would be my first kiss too… I'm just foreign with people, so if someone even came 2 inches from me, i would firmly push them out of my bubble aha. It would be a good punishment, true, but i dont want to turn this into some sort of Triangle business. I HATE triangles, because i'm never satisfied with who ends up with who. I will regret putting Charlotte with Sirius and i just wont want to write anymore. Its for the best i think._

 **Avalon Callahan** ~ _I took what you said in consideration, or at least, i hope i did. I know what you mean about Charlotte and Sirius being friends. I knew from the start though, that Charlotte's relationship with James would be much different than her relationship with anyone else, Sirius included._

 **Harryislife** _~ For starters, i like the username ;) Yeah i'm not a massive basher either, but i like to try and play with peoples flaws a little, glad to hear you appreciate it. Well, the plan is to continue this past hogwarts, but i'm not sure, we will have to see :) I felt sorry for Sirius as well, poor sucker thinks everyone just loves him XD Needed to knock him down a peg. I need to do that with James as well… his time will come muahahahhaha_

 **Sxglow** _~ Thanks for your review and opinion, its much appreciated. Yeah my work isnt beta'd at all because i dont have the patience aha. When i finish a chapter BOOM it goes up. I get excited to see if people like it aha._

 **(That Australian) Guest** _~ To the guest with the BILLION WORD REVIEW. Seriously, i had to open that baby up in a browser because my email on my phone wouldn't show it all. Gracias for your kind words. I actually wrote this because i believe there was 1 or 2 good/ish fics with James/OC and they were only like 30,000 words anyway. I just needed to fix this major issue. I had actually started this as a OC/Remus, but as you can see, that shizz never happened aha. Yeah i do the later chapter before new chapter thing as well, only problem is, i get so excited about a later chapter, i don't want to go back to the 'old' (recent) chapters. That's why i took down my 2 other fics, which were surprisingly just as successful as this fic. I didn't want to have to fill in the blanks, i'm lazy like that. Aww thanks for sharing with your friend, that's so awesome. Good to hear you both enjoy it. I will endeavour to write faster, and upload at a greater rate, though i cant promise anything ;) xxx_

L **ove you all, and appreciate your support so much. You guys make writing worth it xxxxxx**


	20. Chapter 20

**" _Don't you know? True friends stab you in the front._ _"_**

 ** _-bring me the horizon._**

 **Chapter Twenty**

* * *

 **(~Charlotte~)**

"So i suppose you had fun?" Charlotte asked with little interest, taking caution when she looked up and saw James staring at her. It wasn't the way his eye seemed to twitch, nor how low his lips were angled. It also wasn't how he stabbed his spoon into his meal like he was digging for something. It was his silence.

How long she had sat in front of him, without his eyes meeting hers, nor his voice being heard. There was _something_ going on with him, and she wouldn't be lying if she said she was hoping he was just being dramatic. Hadn't they only _just_ stopped fighting?

After a few seconds where all James did was stare at her with his twitchy eyes and shrewd lips, it was Sirius, who sat on her right, that answered on his behalf. "We did, was a blast, right Prongs?" Sirius said, a half smile on his face as he sent a wide eyed look to James. Either James' wasn't seeing it, or he he simply ignored it as he impassively stared Charlotte down.

"Sure, it was great. Sirius here played brilliantly, and i even manages a few run in's with the ravenclaw keeper." Charlotte nodded uncommitedly. His answer was brisk, and was obviously trying to convey a message that just wasn't getting through to her. Nibbling on her scroll, she looked at Sirius with questioning eyes. He seemed to understand what she was asking, yet all he did was look on with amusement, not answering what she was clearly asking.

Well she was glad _he_ was amused.

"All of which you would have known," James said pointedly, his eyes narrowing as he leaned forward on the table. Charlotte looked back towards James, raising her brows at his heated tone. She had half the mind to interrupt him, telling him to untwist his knickers that were _clearly_ sitting uncomfortably right up there. "Had you come."

 _Ah, so that's what it was all about._ Charlotte sighed, letting her eyes roll as she went back to her meal. She wasn't at all interested in hearing James scold and bicker on about something that really _wasn't_ that big of a deal. This only seemed to lessen her position in James' good spirits, made obvious by the low growl she heard coming from across the table. She _had_ to give him a look for that. Immature git. "You said you would. So really, what was so important you had to skip on your promise?"

Charlotte ignored the look Sirius gave her, which was truthfully as annoying as the look James gave. He seemed to be equally curious as to where she had been. Was it so surprising that _perhaps_ she was busy? That they weren't the centre of her bloody life and she had other shit going on?

"I already told you, i was busy," Charlotte bit out, glaring at James, then sending an accusing look at Sirius. He simply chuckled and watched the argument continue with an amused smirk.

James clearly didn't believe her, and he said as much. She wasn't technically lying. Well, that might be a little skewed, considering it was only partially true. That didn't make it a lie though, right?

She hadn't been 'busy' per say, rather she'd forgotten all about the bloody Quidditch game. Saturday's, for Charlotte, were not all that different from any other day of the week. An odd statement considering she spent all the rest of the days in class, and not a minute of saturday was spent in a 20 metre relativity to a classroom, however the principle still applied.

She'd woken up, later than usual, and decided she would spend the day at hogsmeade. Now, one would argue that you generally would go to hogsmeade or anywhere in general with friends, however Charlotte was content to spend her time alone, knowing quite well there was other people Lily, Sirius and James could be with when she wasn't around.

So, at a little past 11, she'd wrapped herself warmly and went the more _convenient_ route to Hogsmeade, in comparison to the last time she'd been there. There were students milling about in every corner, and it put her in a particularly dry mood. She spent the first hour or so glancing through shops, taking a look at this and that (knowing very well she hadn't a galleon to spend) and having a quick drink at the three broomsticks. Just butterbeer this time, as she _was_ planning on spending the day in some form of sobriety.

She ended up shuffling by madam Puddifoot's tea shop, thinking to stop for a pot of tea when she realised, shortly after stepping into the quaint, albeit tacky, shop, that it seemed to be a location reserved for couples. This only seemed to be solidified when madam Puddifoot met her at the door, asking in a sickly sweet voice if she would like a table as she waited for her _sweetheart_. Why, Charlotte didn't even bother to take a look back at the Pink frilly room before she was gone out the door, not at all caring that she was probably been utterly rude to the shop owner.

Charlotte ended up spending most of her time in Tomes and Scrolls, not at all minding that the shop seemed to be standing on its last charms. The walls were frayed and she thought she might have seen a rat or two scuttling across the back wall. None the less, it had a small area where one might be able to set up some implements as they looked through the many books, tomes and scrolls in said store.

Charlotte wasn't too sure who the owner of the store was, as a new keeper seemed to appear every time she risked entering Hogsmeade, but each time they greeted her eagerly. Technically, the store was intended to _buy_ books and not to read, browse and study its contents. Charlotte always ensured she bought at least something, so they wouldn't think to throw her out. She found a rather bewitching book on ancient runes that caught her eye, and purchased it before settling down to study.

So she _might_ have had a few galleons to spare. A few hours later, she'd written a 12 inch essay on the principles of re-materialisation, a seemingly fitting essay considering her extra-curricular activities of late. Once the parchment was dried and rolled up neatly (she always forgot to cut the parchment before writing on it), she threw a quick thanks at the elderly woman reading a book of her own at the counter.

Quite satisfied with the outcome of her Saturday, she decided to splurge, and spend her evening (and evening meal) at the Three Broomsticks, happily surprised that the activity had decreased till she saw but a few people in all of Hogsmeade, and still she wasn't sure if they were Students.

When she arrived back at the castle, the common room was barren, and not a sound could be heard from the dorms. Charlotte had actually taken the initiative to yell out to see if anyone was around. It wasn't _that_ late, so it left the question as to where the bloody hell everyone was.

One would likely imagine that Charlotte might go looking for the rest of her house. Instead, she found herself quite content to enjoy having the dorm to herself before bed. Other than the times where Lily would be on prefect patrol, she and Alice always seemed to be in the room at the most unfortunate of times. Which is why she hadn't even given a thought to Lily not being in the room. She pulled out her Firewhiskey, winced through a glass or two whilst listening to some music on the radio, not caring if the songs were her style or not.

And that was her day.

It had not at all occurred to her, till the morning of course, that James and Sirius had their quidditch game on that evening. In fact, she was at first, startled that James seemed annoyed at her, especially when he kept goading her with questions about Quidditch, to the point where she had to ask him to shut his mouth. Which, of course, was the beginning of his silent treatment.

It was Sirius who _slyly_ pointed out that the Gryffindor/Ravenclaw had been the night before, and she was obviously absent from the stands. Well it certainly wasn't her _fault_ she'd missed the game. She was out for most of the day with more important things to think about! If James wanted to be a child about it, she'd treat him like a child. Which is why she went for the immature approach of pretending she didn't give a toss about missing the game, when infact, she felt rather guilty.

"Well, whilst you were _busy_ " James commented, hand motions and all. "You missed out on one of the greatest games of the season, against Ravenclaw no less!"

Whilst she was glad he'd enjoyed the game, she wasn't exactly in a congratulatory mood. "You played well without me being there, correct?" Charlotte asked briskly, raising a brow. James nodded slightly, plainly confused as to what she was getting at. "Then what difference does it make if i was there or not. You played. That's great."

"Well," James said, leaning forward with narrowed eyes. Charlotte noticed that Sirius wasn't amused anymore, and looked a tad worried. "I guess i can see why Sirius chose to _slack off_ on our last training session. I knew you were spending time together, but i didn't know you were twisting his views on Quidditch."

"Mate, that's a tad unfair." Sirius said, rather softly. His wide eyes flickered to Charlotte's for a moment, and she was almost stumped by the pleading look. What exactly did _that_ look mean.

"I'll have you know _Jamesey_ ," Charlotte spat, leaning forward to meet him across the table with a hard glare. Just as she'd thought, that nickname seemed to hit him exactly as she'd meant to. "Sirius was trying to _convince_ me to go." Her cheeks unintentionally flushed as she met those exact stormy eyes, remembering the _other_ thing he had attempted to convince her of.

It had been something she'd pushed to the back of her mind since that night. They had both done well before that moment in pretending the... _unfortunate_ kiss never happened. All in all, nothing seemed horribly awkward, and Charlotte had to put it to Sirius' ability to make any situation seem less severe. It suddenly made sense what Sirius seemed to be pleading to her, with those wide panicked eyes. The git didn't want her to tell James just _what_ had happened whilst he'd skipped out on Quidditch practise. _Jerk._

James opened his mouth to say something, and Charlotte felt herself bristling in preparation for his onslaught, but suddenly Sirius' waving hand appeared before their faces.

"Before this turns out to becoming an all out war," Sirius said unnecessarily loud between the two of them, to the point where it brought other Gryffindors attention towards them. "Remus."

As his intended purpose, both Charlotte and James were momentarily distracted as they looked to where Sirius was pointing. Low and behold, there stood Remus, walking towards them with a smile. She sighed at Sirius tactics, but acknowledged it for what it was. If it got James off her back, she didn't mind.

"Alright Remus," Charlotte acknowledged with a nod of her head. Seeing him look on with surprise at such an impersonal way of greeting, she was almost worried that she'd somehow offended him.

It was when he smiled that she realised he was surprised at a greeting _at all_. Now, that did make her feel guilty (more guilty than she'd felt for the sulking James apparently). It wasn't as though she went out of her way to ignore him. She supposed she'd gotten used to him just always _being_ there, Pete too. Remus wasn't one to barge into a conversation like James or Sirius, rather he chose to listen on, and humbly give his opinion when it was appropriate, or asked for.

It was an interesting realisation, how overpowering Sirius' and James' personalities seemed to be. Charlotte didn't know why she didn't pay more attention to Remus. He was the nicest of the bunch, the smartest, and probably the most interesting. Even Pete seemed to have this quite quirkiness that would be a fine quality in a friend.

"Morning Charlotte," Remus answered with a smile, sitting beside James. He nodded to James and Sirius, saying a quick "Gents," to which they answered "Moony," before looking back at Charlotte with slightly narrowed eyes. They weren't accusing, rather curious, as though he was studying her. For some odd reason, that look made her feel terribly guilty. Had he not been around, she might've asked Sirius whether Remus usually had this affect on people. If she could guess, she'd say his answer would be a definite _yes._

"I noticed you weren't at yesterday's game?" Though it sounded like a question, it wasn't one really. It was a statement, a statement that was leading to questions. Questions that led to answers, answers she didn't particularly feel she needed to share. It had Charlotte groaning and tossing her scroll aside, all but losing her appetite.

"As I told James, I was busy," Charlotte answered through gritted teeth, her arms crossed against her chest. She was being a tad rude, but there was only so many times she could get asked the one question before it became a little annoying. James made a scoffing sound across from her, and she turned her dark eyes to glare at him, _daring_ him to question her word. Some distraction that had been ' _moony'._

"Well you missed quite the match," Remus admitted shaking his head, grabbing himself some food and tossing something at Sirius. Unsurprising if it had been his intention, but she was more distracted by his words and her thoughts than whatever it had been Remus and Sirius had shared between them. Whatever it was that Sirius had in his hands, were tucked away in his posckets a moment later, and flitted out of her thoughts just as fast. When Remus saw her downcast expression, he took it upon himself to add, "Luckily there is always next year."

Charlotte's brows furrowed as she looked at Remus in confusion, watching as he began grabbing some toast and eggs with a small knowing smile on the very corner of his mouth..

"Whaddaya mean _next year?_ " Charlotte asked in confusion, a little more sharply than needed if one paid attention.

"Well-" Remus began, leaning forward. He was cut off by James, who apparently wanted to deliver the news himself.

"That was the _last game_ ," James said through gritted teeth. "We _lost_ the cup."

Charlotte looked drily at James for a moment, flicking her eyes to Sirius, and Remus then to Pete, who'd been quite the entire time. He'd actually walked over with Remus, but hadn't seemed to make any intention of greeting her at all. She was used to it, and chose to do what she always did when people ignored her presence, ignored _theirs._ None of them hinted that James was joking, not in the slightest.

"Oh," Charlotte muttered, looking downwards. Using her nail to pick at the wood, she felt the awkward silence roll around their group like a slug. She knew they were all looking at her, apart from James of course, who had decided to slump in his seat and mutter incoherently.

But what could she really say? So she missed the game. One game. They had another year to play quidditch, and she hadn't been all that enthused to attend anyhow. That little trip with James the previous night certainly didn't help her feelings towards his quidditch skills. Bloody idiot almost sent her flying off the back of his broom.

"So that's why there are Ravenclaw banners everywhere," She muttered with little humour as her eyes locked onto a blue banner, one of many, hanging around the great hall. A proud eagle shook its feathers out within its fabric restrictions and charms. Truth be told, she had noticed the banners thinking nothing of them, and it was only now that she knew they'd won, that it made sense why the Ravenclaws were so worked up that morning.

"Obviously," James snapped in response. Charlotte glared, and they continued staring each other down, even when Sirius and Remus began lively chatting.

Charlotte sat awkwardly for the entirety of breakfast as professor Dumbledore congratulated the Ravenclaw team, bringing them up to the head table to _officially_ hand over the house cup to the captain so that all the school could revel in their win.

Well if Charlotte wasn't feeling the guilt before, she certainly felt it now. Unfortunately (for James) her guilt had nothing to do with her attendance at his game. Had time managed to slip so quickly that it was already May? That left a little under a month before the end of the school year, and only…. _Godric,_ that left two bloody weeks till their tests.

Her thoughts were confirmed by Dumbledore , encouraging all students to now turn their full attention to studying in wake of their tests. He also warned Ravenclaw that if their celebrations got too out of hand that night, they might find themselves without a team for the next year.

With that thought left buzzing in her mind, breakfast was resumed. Still reeling, she cautioned a look at James, finding he was stabbing his cereal with a vengeance she knew was meant for her. Immature or not, it was making her feel bad. _Git_.

"Would it make you feel better if I was the cereal?" Charlotte asked drily, attempting humour and an apology at once.

James stopped stabbing and sighed, slumping back as he looked at Charlotte. His shrug was almost defeated as he ran a hand through his hair. "Course it wouldn't. Would have been nice if you were at the game though."

 _Why'd he have to seem so sensible at the best of times_ , Charlotte wondered, giving him a look that likely made him a little confused. She'd feel a lot better about the whole thing if he carried on like an idiot, instead of carefully considering her.

"I will be, next time," Charlotte said in way of promise. He went straight back to stabbing his cereal, and Charlotte found herself retracting her thought process about James being _at all_ sensible, her eyes _, once again,_ glaring at his form across from her.

"Next year," James muttered.

 _"Do you want it to be never?"_

 _"Well, I wouldn't be surprised if that was the end result!"_

 _"You can take your end result and shove it up you-"_

"How is it that Lily, a bird who won't step 10 feet from a Quidditch pitch managed to make it, whereas her lovely sister who claims to enjoy flying so dearly, missed out?" Sirius questioned, loud enough to drown out both James and Charlotte's incessant bickering. Sirius raised a brow in Remus' direction, who could only smile and shrug in response. Though it was directed at him, he knew the quip was really meant for Charlotte.

"Lily went?!" Charlotte blurted, growing red when she realised it had been louder than she hoped. Others around the table looked towards her, and she didn't want to look up to find out if Lily heard. Sirius sniggered, and it took all she had in her not to fling her food at him.

"Mm. She and Alice sat with Pete and I. She didn't seemed impressed by it at all if you were wondering." Remus said, giving her a small smile. Charlotte looked up at him with a glum expression, not _really_ caring if Lily seemed impressed in the slightest. It was no secret Lily didn't like quidditch, and Remus knew this. Was he _baiting_ her?

"At least she turned up," James said with a grumble, his hair hanging impossibly down his face. When he wasn't running a hand through it every few minutes, Charlotte found that it just sat in odd angles in front of his face. For the moment, with his grumbling, immature behaviour, and the repetitive action of swiping at his cereal and his stupid _ridiculous_ hair, Charlotte felt herself quickly become more agitated with every repetitive move.

"Oh stop your moaning." Charlotte snapped, slamming her hand down causing him to drop his spoon with a jump. He glared her way and she rolled her eyes, giving him a hard stare. "You're acting like such a child. I missed one game, _one game_. I didn't know it was the last game because no one _told me_ , and I wasn't there because I was _busy_. I assumed there would be another game I could attend to make up for it."

"Rotten luck that," Sirius quipped aloud with a small smirk, taking a sip of his coffee.

" _Not helping mate_." " _Oh, Shut up Sirius_ " James and Charlotte chorused, turning to glare at each other.

Sirius made a comment about _wanting to break the tension_ or some rubbish like that, and Charlotte rightly ignored him. James seemed to open his mouth up to say something, and by the hardened look in his eyes, and the furrow of his brow, she took a wild guess, assuming it was just a continuation of his tantrum.

"You can keep bitching about how i wasn't there, or you can suck it up and tell me about the game." Charlotte cut in firmly, fixing him with a hard stare, his mouth snapping shut.

"I like you," Remus commented with a smile, pointing his spoon her way as he looked at the stumped look on James. Charlotte felt her brows furrowing at such an offhanded comment from the boy, never hearing him, or anyone, say anything so direct before. She didn't know if she should feel honoured, or awkward, or anything at all. She settled for frowning, giving him an odd look.

"Thanks…" Charlotte said uncertainly, turning to face Sirius with wide eyes. He just looked at her amused before shaking his head and shrugging his shoulders, as though he was unable to explain the complexities that were Remus Lupin. Her eyes went back to the boy with Sandy hair, and found, unshockingly, that his interests were on a book in his left hand. His right held an apple, and it was clear that he was no longer a part of the conversation.

Shaking her head in bewilderment, she looked back towards James, finding he was looking at her already. Trying not to show she had been uncomfortable with him staring at her, she cleared her throat, raising her chin. "Well?" Charlotte lifted a brow and awaited his decision.

Credit to James, he at least looked like he was considering what she was saying. His brows furrowed for a moment in thought, looking at Remus for a moment, as though in confirmation that what Charlotte was saying seemed logical. She looked to Remus, and found, quite astonishingly, that he wasn't as captured by his book as he had _appeared to be_. He gave a half smile and small nod towards James, looking back towards his book, the small smile never leaving.

Charlotte decided she didn't like that small smile, for a completely different reason than James' and Sirius'. Sirius' smile was infuriating, as though she was the topic of every jest, the subject of every joke, and the sole individual for which that flirty smirk was given too (even though she knew, _quite surely_ , that she wasn't). James' smile... well, she wasn't quite sure what she felt about his. In fact, she was positive she didn't _like_ what she felt about his. It was infuriating, because she ̶d̶i̶d̶n̶t̶ ̶w̶a̶n̶t̶ ̶t̶o̶ couldn't describe what she was feeling. There was this lightness and…

Charlotte gritted her teeth and shook her head. James smile confused her, that much she **did** know. Remus' smile, or at least the smile he seemed to be showing her more recently, was so clearly suggestive. Not romantically of course, rather, it was suggestive that he knew something. Something that she couldn't possible see. There was this understanding, an almost affectionate look. Charlotte couldn't call it pity, rather _compassion_. What exactly was he seeing that she wasn't?

Whatever it was that he had compassion for, Charlotte couldn't fathom. But he was apparently feeling it for James, or maybe her? Charlotte looked at James, sighing when she found he was _still_ looking at her. Upon a second glance at his way, she noticed what she hadn't before. Gone was the annoyance, sulking and sadness. He still looked a little down, but otherwise, he mostly looked as though he'd forgiven her.

James leaned forward, a smile finding its way on his face as his hands found their way in front of them, as though in preparation for visual aid. His eyes were lit with a excitement as he described the first 15 minutes of the game, sparing no gory details of the match. Charlotte couldn't help the small smile at the corner of her lips, watching with rapt attention at his demonstrations and explanations.

"The game really started when Mandy, our backup took place for Jackson who got knocked off his broom. She was in the middle of…" None of them noticed how Remus seemed to be switching between reading, listening to James, and studying Charlotte. If they had, they might of been concerned with the furrow of his brows, and the look of deep thought that took over him.

* * *

 **(~James~)**

He couldn't help it. He really couldn't. His cauldron was right there, just two tables behind him. The bloody thing was hissing and spitting out its contents, practically daring him to muck it up.

His own potion on the other hand…James sighed and stirred the murky potion that was _definitely_ not meant to be green.

It was all Snape's fault. James had spent _almost_ the entire class, focused on his own potion. Cutting up its contents carefully, measuring and weighing every ingredient before it went within a few centimetres of his cauldron. That was when, of course, Slughorn wondered to Snape's desk, complementing the potions bloody texture, _of all things_.

Well, Slughorn walked past his own desk, and barely offered him a glance. James knew this was probably the best potion he'd managed to concoct all year, all his life honestly. Charlotte said to get good grades, so that's what he was _attempting_ to do.

When Slughorn missed the obvious brilliance that was his potion, James directed his narrowed eyes to Snape, who was smugly writing down in his blasted potions book.

Now, he couldn't say his next few decisions were all that smart, nor was he particularly proud of them, but he hadn't exactly been thinking about the consequences at the time.

Taking one quick glance to where Slughorn was, he slipped his hands into his pockets, whistling as he walked to the back of the classroom, grabbing a new dragon bone spoon. On his way back to his desk, when Snape was still leaning down writing in his book, quite similarly to how a bloody girl writes in a diary, he pulled his hand out of his pocket, a few fire seeds slipping from his fingers into the cauldron beside him.

With a small smirk on his face, he sat back down at his desk, waiting with baited breath as the hissing potion behind him slowly became more and more quiet, until not a sound could be heard.

" _What in Salazar,"_ he heard Snape mutter, likely stirring his potion sporadically. But, as James knew, it was too late to revive the contents of the potion. Not only had the seeds burnt the contents of his potion, it had turned it clumpy and porridge like.

James didn't get a brilliant mark for his pathetic attempt at his own potion. Tough quite good at first it suffered through the events of his distraction. He seemed glumly content with his mark. Snape got better than him still, which ticked him off.

When potions was _at last_ over, he met Sirius outside of the classroom, and walked with him to care of magical creatures, giving Charlotte, who had been walking with Lily, a quick wave.

Charlotte waved back, a small smirk on her lips, but James was no longer looking at her. Lily had also looked over at that moment, and James felt his throat catch any breath in his lungs. How lovely she was... It took Sirius lightly slapping him across the face to bring his attention back to the present and James could hardly believe that Lily and Charlotte were nowhere to be found.

The classroom was, as always, heavily shaded. It smelt mouldy, and old. There was also the distinct fume of animal faeces and he tried the block the smell out of his nose ( as always to no avail )

James sat beside Remus, nodding his head in greeting as he pulled out his textbook and notebook. He might not use all the implements, but it at least looked like he did.

"James we need to talk about Charlotte." James looked to the side, showing an amused expression as he awaited for Remus to explain exactly what they needed to 'talk' about. Professor Kettleburn happened to look over the moment James was distracted, and his booming voice was enough to turn his attention back to the class.

"I know you trust her," Remus muttered, as he took down notes. James never could understand how he managed to do that. Why was it that Remus _never_ got in trouble, when half the time he was, at least, an indirect cause of it. "as does Sirius. Fact remains, we don't know much about her. There is still the question of her mystery appearance… and well there is something else."

 _Oh, that._ James thought with a groan.

He was stumped for a moment that he'd even forgotten all that rubbish that they spoke about weeks ago. He hadn't been suspicious of her for quite some time now. Though the fact remained, not all things, all his questions, were answered. A large majority was still in the air.

It was the _something else,_ that had him worried.

"What else?" James asked, brows narrowing in confusion as he distractedly looked away from what he was doing to give Remus his attention, taking a quick glance to the front of the classroom, ensuring he wouldn't get yelled at _again._

"Nothing worth considering yet. Probably just a coincidence. I'll let you know if it's anything of consequence." James nodded slightly and moved as though to go back to his work, though his mind was miles away still. Just _what_ was he getting on about. What else could be going on with Charlotte that he didn't know about? "I was against it at first, but i think...if you can't get anything out of her, we should get her student file."

A loud gasp sounded from their left, earning two simultaneous eye rolls when they discovered it was _only_ Sirius, walking over in lieu with Pete.

"Did i hear the words student file? By moony no less?" Sirius asked, his voice unnaturally giddy as he leaned on the table before them. Taking a quick glance up, he found that Professor Kettleburn was having a strict conversation with some other unfortunate students closer to the front. James sighed, looking between them all before shrugging.

"Really, i'm not sure it's necessary anymore." Pete went to interrupt, but James raised a hand, quickly cutting in before he had the chance. "It's clear Charlotte and Lily are sisters. It seems ridiculous to go to all this effort, only to confirm what we already know."

James watched as Sirius nodded in agreeance, Pete looked at the table with a hard, stony expression, and Remus shook his head, as though James wasn't getting the point.

"It's not about them being sisters. It's about the fact we have literally been living in the same common room for 6 years and not once have we noticed her existence." Remus' argument was sound, and James listened as all three of them seemed to hum to themselves, agreeing with what Remus was saying in one form or another.

"You know, the other night, she told me a few times that we'd 'apparently' met. I don't remember a single one." James looked at him with a frown, wondering where this came from. He hadn't told him about this. When had Charlotte and Sirius been together during the night? "I'm not saying she is lying, but something is definitely not right."

"I don't like it," James said with a sigh.

"Well, i dont like you telling our illegal secrets to a girl we don't know," Pete pointed out, his voice hard and unforgiving as he glared at James.

"Pete-"

"No, it's okay." James conceded, rubbing his forehead distractedly.

" _It's not okay. Prongs didn't blab 'our' secret. He told her his. It in no way endangered anyone but him."_

" _He should have consulted all of us."_

" _He endangered Remus!"_

" _James went to Remus first!"_

" _Only after telling Charlotte!"_

He had hoped things would have cleared up by now. Godric, he'd practically forgotten about the mysterious way Charlotte had appeared in their lives. She was just there one day, and that was that. The fact remained, Charlotte just _appeared_. It wasn't normal. James could understand _perhaps_ if she was a wallflower who went out of her way to remain invisible, but she was Lily's sister. There is no way he would have missed taking the chance to take advantage of that before.

" _She could go blabbing to peers, students, the bloody ministry of magic!"_

" _Pete, she hasn't done that yet, what makes you think she would now?"_

" _Yeah, besides we are her friends now. She wouldn't go back on friends."_

" _Correction, you are her friend. She hasn't made an effort for anyone else."_

" _Bull. She… She said hi to you!"_

" _No, actually she only said hi when I walked over."_

" _Why is that such a surprise? It's not like girls talk to you anyway-"_

When Alice had pointed him in her direction, he thought she was joking. But went along anyway. Truthfully, he'd done a fair bit of observation of the girl before he'd even approached her at breakfast that one morning, almost a few months ago. He could already tell she was a bit of a loner, though he couldn't fathom why. Other than being a bit snarky with her sister, he couldn't see anything _wrong_ with her.

In fact, he'd assumed, just as Remus had, that she was a transfer. He recovered, quite quickly too, when she'd told him she had been at Hogwarts for as long as he had. It was none the less a shock to the system.

" _She could be lying."_

" _About what?"_

" _About everything! She's smart you know, smarter than Remus even."_

" _Well I don't know about that!"_

" _Point is, teachers don't even know her."_

" _I'm sure that was just once. Everyone knows Slughorn is daft. Besides, I didn't notice half the girls till at least 4th year."_

" _Oh shove it Sirius, you started chasing girls the moment you noticed they had breasts."_

" _Really Pete?"_

James blocked the conversation out, knowing well enough that there was truth in all their words. Even that unfortunate last comment.

He was, at times, a bit of an idiot. Sirius was a bit daft, Remus, distracted by personal matters on a...monthly basis and Pete was all the above. These flaws, as well as the many others he knew they all possessed, wouldn't simply _erase_ someone from the last 6 years at hogwarts. They had classes together _every day._ It just didn't seem possible that he, or rather any of them, would misplace her.

James swallowed, his throat dry as he processed his thoughts. There was only one thing for it really. "I'll talk to her. If i can't work it out, all of it, why we can't remember her, why teachers can't, why she has no friend... we go."

Sirius was unconvinced, Remus was determined and Pete was enthusiastic. James didn't know what he felt.

"Sounds like a plan." Remus said with an appreciative nod, taking a few seconds to study James before he went back to his own work.

* * *

 **(~ Charlotte ~)**

"So you're saying Lily never liked it when I left flowers for her? Ever?" If he took his answer from the look she gave him, he didn't show it. Honestly, she wasn't in the mood to discuss Lily at all, but, as the saying went, a deal was a deal. He was helping her with the potion, so it was only fair she helped him.

It didn't make it any more _pleasant_.

"The first time, she found it odd, but sweet." Charlotte admitted honestly, taking a moment to step aside from the workbench to give him a comical look. His hazel eyes lit up for a moment, and she rolled her eyes when she recognised the hope emanating from him. Hope wasted, considering Lily hadn't actually _known_ that it was James sending her flowers. At least, not at first. It was when their dorm room started to reek of flowers that she spoiled Lily's joy of having a secret admirer. "When you got word of that, of course you bloody decided to send her flowers whenever it tickled your fancy. She was creeped out James."

She had also been pissed beyond belief, especially after she'd confronted him during dinner one evening. Charlotte didn't feel it necessary to share that bit, as it was quite obvious, _to everyone_ , that Lily had been a little more than annoyed at him.

Charlotte watched with a brow raised as he frowned, appearing to think deeply about what she had suggested. She gave him a moment to process before stepping back to the table and picking up the knife again, she made a motion to the few slices of ingredients she'd already cut, asking him, "Is this thin enough?"

That brought him out of his thoughts, leaning over the table to look at the ingredients with a critical eye. Charlotte wondered how he could even look at it critically, considering his hair was flopped over in front of his glasses. A hand brushed through his hair, earning an unintentional eye roll from Charlotte. "Thinner. Make sure you slice the roots up evenly." Charlotte looked over everything with a frown, giving him a quizzical look. She wanted to point out that her roots were perfectly even _thankyou._ She had a sneaking suspicion that he wasn't all too appreciative of her comments on his ' _lily strategy',_ as he called it. "What about the owl post?"

Charlotte snorted, shaking her head as she put the roots into the cauldron. "You mean the time you humiliated her by creating this big ass banner in the great hall?" Charlotte recalled with an amused tilt of her lips. He nodded hesitantly, and a smile broke out on her lips.

She KNEW that it had been him! For whatever illogical reason that often brought James to do stupid things, he'd somehow got it into his head to 'help' Lily out in her quest to be prefect. She didn't even want to know _how_ he managed to enchant the banner, but she was at least appreciative of a fairly funny evening.

She could still remember how red Lily was as all of Hogwarts watched, with mixed expression of shock, disbelief and humour, as a small scroll managed to explode within Lily's hands, being brought by a mysterious owl only a few moments before. The scroll seemed to expand until it was almost as long as the great hall, floating up in the air with a bright red caption. So entranced, barely a sound was made as all students, teachers and Charlotte read the words on the ever growing banner.

 _"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, its plain to see,_

 _Hogwarts Hogwarts, don't disappoint me,_

 _Gryffindors, Gryffindors listen well,_

 _For i have something important to tell._

 _Lily evans-"_

Well, just about every eye in the great hall turned towards her. Those who didn't know who she was, muttered amongst themselves, but ended up trailing along the eyes of all the other students in their house. Lily had never looked so horrified in all her life, and Charlotte was trying not to sputter into her coffee, using it instead to hide the wide smirk on her face.

 _"Lily Evan's a beauty undefined,_

 _Lily Evans, an equally brilliant mind._

 _Hogwarts, Gryffindors and even the horrid Snakes,_

 _Vote Lily Evans for Prefect, Don't make a mistake."_

Eventually, the commotion became too much for the teachers, and Headmaster Dumbledore made an impromptu announcement. He asked for the students to quieten down, applauded the student for their creative marketing skills, made a small side comment that Lily was the most suitable candidate to be prefect _anyway_ and went on to remind everyone that Prefect elections were not a student vote, rather, held by the teachers.

If Charlotte had been looking over at James at the time, she would have seen his visibly deflate in his seat, likely out of disappointment that his _stupid_ plan was an absolute bust, and all he'd really managed to do was make Lily dislike him even more than she already did.

That was a good night. For her at least. For lily? "I can safely say, she didn't enjoy it as much as I did." Charlotte said eventually, finding it impossible to keep out the laugh that came out with it.

James sighed, shaking his head. "Shame. I put so much effort into it, it was actually meant to be funny."

Charlotte gave him a look. "Well, you should know by now that Lily generally doesn't like public confrontation. Even the _good_ sort." Even the kind where she is the centre of attention, _weirdly enough._

James made a muffled sound of annoyance, something akin to ' _I know that now.'_ Charlotte watched him for a moment, before going back to stirring the cauldron.

"So how's your spell-manship going?" Charlotte lifted her eyes, watching as James ran a hand through his hair and took a look at the book he was readying, drumming his fingers on the tabletop. _Odd_

"Absolutely bloody brilliant,." Charlotte bit sarcastically, putting the spoon down and taking a seat on the high bench chair behind her. She wrapped her cloak more tightly around her and awaited James' next question. _Apparently, he had an onslaught of questions that evening_. When all he seemed to raise his brows and roll his hand, awaiting a more thorough explanation she found herself sighing. "Well, there are moments I can cast a Patronus and then other times where a simple lumos is a struggle."

"How could you possibly be able to cast a patronus, but not a lumos?"

"Well if i knew, it wouldn't be a problem," Charlotte answered drily "I just get these headaches and…" James looked at her expectantly, nodding his head as though to convince her she could tell him. Really, there was nothing to tell. What she had already told him was everything. Just that morning in charms, she had attempted to levitate her textbook. Not for any particular reason, she had just been bored.

It had lifted a few inches, before she had to drop the spell. A piercing pain shot through her forehead and it was with a groan that the book thundered back to the desk, scaring Sirius right out of his seat. He hadn't seen the pain on her face and simply assumed she was messing with him. A safe assumption really.

All this convinced her of, was her shoddy attempts at anything remotely practical when it came to magic. Well, not _everything_. Charlotte knew she could still cast a patronus, even if she hadn't in a almost two weeks. It just wasn't possible that something so complicated like corporeal magic was easier than the most basic of spells. There were first years who could perform better magic than her!

James nudged her leg when he saw her drifting off into thought. She shook it off, shrugging with a small smile. "Nothing, I think I'm just imagining it." James brows furrowed, and Charlotte watched as he ran a hand through his hair and open his mouth. "What's your patronus?" she asked quickly, a smirk playing on her lips as she went back to stirring her potion.

"Nice try, not gonna happen," James said, grinning. Charlotte knew her attempt at diversion were weak at best, however he seemed to allow it for now. Charlotte much preferred not talking about her for the moment anyway.

"Why! I showed you mine" Charlotte groaned, punching him in the arm when all he did was grin. He retracted back a bit with wince, rubbing his bicep.

"Your unusually violent for a bird." James muttered, loud enough to earn a glare from Charlotte, however that seemed to be the intention, as a wide smirk dragged across his face. Charlotte watched with wary eyes as he leaned forward over the table, running a hand through his hair with a suave grin. "If you wanted a peek Charlotte, all you had to do was ask."

 _Cheeky bugger._

"I thought Sirius was meant to be the inappropriate one?" Charlotte said blandly, raising a brow.

"He can't have all the fun," James said, waggling his brows at her. Charlotte let out a scoff of laughter, pushing his shoulder away. A little more gently than her punch. She picked up the spoon and began stirring again, even though she knew she didn't need to. She currently had the complications of an uncomfortably familiar feeling resting in the pit of her stomach, and it only grew more uncomfortable the longer James looked at her. With a quick glance up she confirmed her was _still_ looking at her.

"So, seeing as i had the displeasure of not knowing you in first year, tell me what you were like, who your friends were, your interests. Favourite teachers, classes and all that rubbish."

Charlotte snorted, distracted by the slowly changing colour of the potion, and the tightness in her stomach that had not yet left, she didn't notice how furrowed James' eyebrows became, even more so when she answered him. "What're you so interested in my childhood for?"

As she sat stirring, James gave her the believable explanation that he wanted to know more about her and Lily's childhoods. Charlotte had already told him quite a bit about Lily's and he pointed out it might be considerably creepy, on Lily's end, if James knew large amounts about Lily, and not about Charlotte. Especially considering they were friends, and Lily knew this.

"I was angsty, didn't have many." Charlotte said by way of answer to what she had been like and her lack of friends. Her first year had been a bit different than the following. For one, she had friends, however that all changes, so there seemed to be no point telling him that now. After she'd slowly lost her friends over the course of her first and second year, she indeed become quite dramatic and angsty, much to Lily's chagrin.

James didn't seem impressed with her answers as, _apparently_ , his question deemed a more detailed response. "I liked trying to beat Lily, liked it even more when i did." He gave her a look that loosely translated to _already knew that._ "Didn't have any favourite teachers and my favourite class was…" Charlotte hummed for a moment, thinking about it. She hadn't _really_ enjoyed any of her classes, not that it mattered now, as it was so long ago. "Cross between history of Magic and Transfiguration."

"Hmm." James hummed, looking to the side. He seemed to stare off into nothing for a moment, and Charlotte took the opportunity to do more of the potion, considering all his interruptions stopped her from doing the work quickly. She began peeling the murtlaps, cutting down the spine and removing the tentacle. She wincing at the squelching sound when she crunched them. It was one of the least pleasant sides of potion making.

"Why didn't you have any friends?" Charlotte gave him a bland look, not at all appreciating the turn of the conversation. Hadn't they already gone over this? Again, and again _, and again._

"Perhaps no one appreciated my dry humour?" She suggested, a tight smile on her face as she watched James put in the peels one by one.

"I'm sure that wasn't it, your humour is delightful," James said with a wide smile, his dimples standing out so much Charlotte found herself rolling her eyes in exasperation. She gave him a once over, looking back at the potion with an uncomfortable frown.

"Come on," James urged with a slightly smaller smile. "What'd you do? _Kill someone_?"

"How did you know," Charlotte answered sarcastically, her brows furrowing into a frown when she saw a glint of annoyance in James' eyes. A hand ran through his hair quickly, almost tugging at the strands. Just _what_ was wrong with him?

" _Did you hex someone?"_

" _Course not."_

" _Were you a teachers pet?"_

" _Never."_

" _Well, were you intentionally rude? Made fun of people? Bitchy"_

" _Not at first."_

" _Did you try to make friends with people...At all? That usually helps"_

" _Yes, I tried."_

" _Well then-"_

" _ **I don't know!"**_

" _...did your lack of friends have anything to do with Lily?"_

" _Why on earth would Lily be the reason I had no friends?"_

" _Just a question. What teacher did you have for defence against the dark arts in first year?"_

" _What does that have to do with-"_

" _Just… Answer the question."_

"You know what?" Charlotte said, glaring at James, who seemed to be on edge just as much as she was. Charlotte's heart was racing, fuelled by the feeling of being attacked. "I'm sick of answering your ruddy questions."

"Charlotte-"

"Drop It." James shut his mouth immediately at her cold tone, and sat back in his stool with a cold expression. "The deal was to give you information about Lily, not me." Whether it was her sharp tone, or how she went on to ignore him, he dropped it.

He also didn't utter a word for the remainder of the night, neither of them did. There was a mutter of ' _please pass the-' and , 'stir slower,'_ but no mention of anything else.

It was around 12 when Charlotte realised just how bored she'd become without his incessant babbling. She'd even started throwing bits of dried up fluxweed at him when there was nothing for her to do but wait as he stirred this or cut that. At first he was confused why the potions ingredients seemed to levitate towards him. It was her snickering that brought his attention to the shrivelled weed in her hand and the angle at which it was aimed.

She offered him a coy smile, shrugging her shoulders in innocence that James saw through immediately. He sighed, ran a hand through his hair and rolled his eyes, acting as though it was _her_ who was being immature.

She would have still believed him to be indifferent, if she hadn't noticed the slight upturn of his lips. Whatever it was that James seemed to be so bothered by, and made him shoot out those ridiculous questions, seemed to have left the room for a moment.

It worried Charlotte, far more than she liked to believe, that after all this time, James was still questioning her. She'd told him almost everything. She told him about Lily, she told him about her friends (or lack thereof) and she even shared about her drinking problem. He seemed to know too well her insecurities and her strengths, yet he _still_ questioned her.

Did he believe that, if he continued to ask the same question over and over, Charlotte would have a different answer?

And he clearly didn't realise that Charlotte mind find it offensive to be _blamed_ for her detrimental social skills? She certainly wasn't proud of the fact she had no friends, and hell, she'd asked many of the same questions he just had all through her schooling years. It didn't seem wise dwelling on something that wouldn't change however. She had friends now, what does it matter if she didn't then?

What's more, what did it matter to James?

* * *

 **(~Remus~)**

Remus had been pondering, whilst doing his charms essay, how Sirius _always_ managed to copy his assignments from him. All it really took was for Sirius to ask him with some homework help. Remus has _tried_ helping Sirius in the past, and he never met someone so unwilling to do the one thing he actually ASKED for.

It took him far longer than it should have to work out that Sirius also knew this _very well_. Now, Remus didn't even argue against giving Sirius the work. There was really no point to it anymore. If Remus wanted to save time, he might as well have written his bloody work twice just for Sirius' benefit.

He lifted his eyes for a second, to peer curiously as James entered the room quietly, the door barely brushing closed. He put down the parchment, and apple that he'd been munching on, when James didn't say a word to any of them. _How very unlike him._

He watched, brows furrowed, as James sat on the corner of his bed, ruffling his hair with both hands. He seemed to be in deep thought, and Remus only knew of two people who could put him into deep thought these days. How ironic they were both girls. James had always said he didn't like drama with girls, but the only thing he'd managed to create since first approaching Charlotte was excessive amounts of drama, through his fault of course, and perhaps a friendship on the side.

The other boys seemed to have caught on James' odd mood, for they both looked over at Remus with questioning eyes. In way of response, Remus shrugged. Whatever was troubling James, none of them knew.

Sirius tried to pry whatever it was that had him looking so discontent with humour, but it was the wrong approach, and all it earned was a glare. Remus met Sirius eyes and the both of them shared the same amused, yet worried expression.

James could be a very serious person at the best of times, so if his mood in that moment was any indication of what was running through his head, Remus would guess that something highly problematic was happening, or going to happen. And, if Remus' guess had been right and James was concerned for or on behalf of either Evan's girls, it would likely include all of them.

They all waited in bated silence for James to say something, as they knew he would, eventually.

"We go, a week from today." James said, right before he shut the blinds of his bed.

Remus turned his concerned eyes to Sirius, who looked rather understanding of the situation. Sirius just assumed that James was annoyed that they had been right, against what James has thought about trusting Charlotte's word. Remus _also_ believed a small capacity of James was annoyed about that, but he had a feeling a much bigger part of him was struggling with the idea of going _at all_.

Remus had noticed, over the course of a few weeks, that James has a bit of a soft spot for Charlotte. He was insanely protective, as shown by the ridiculous argument he caused between himself, Charlotte and Sirius, and seemed to forget his boundaries at times. He sought out her attention like a puppy would its owner, and took her advice into account more quickly and deeply than he ever had when he'd asked Remus, Pete or Sirius for guidance.

James seemed intensely curious of her, something Remus has picked up on long before they became friends. Though, it had managed to stay with him long after. Remus wouldn't define what James had with Charlotte to the intensity of his fascination with Lily, but it worried Remus that it might be heading in a similar direction.

Remus didn't want to know what James would do if he found out that Sirius kissed Charlotte. He hadn't been shocked when Sirius had told him, but he was shocked what Charlotte had done in return. He had assumed Charlotte fancied him, or liked him to a certain degree at least. What a shame he hadn't been there to see her swing at him. A highly amusing event to be sure. Not for them perhaps, but most certainly for him.

Sirius had made Remus swear, solemnly and all, that he wouldn't share a peep with James. He pointed out that Sirius would _have_ to tell James eventually, but Sirius was seemingly just as much aware of James' protectiveness of Charlotte as Remus was (and also clearly embarrassed that he'd been socked in the face by a girl). Remus had a feeling Sirius assumed it was an early stage sibling connection, but he disagreed.

There was something about Charlotte that made James more…like himself. Remus had been wary of James' apparent favour of Lily from the beginning, and the more it seemed to grow, the more it seemed to change James. Just small things, like dazing off all the time, and bringing her up randomly in conversations which in _no way_ relate to her. Charlotte seemed to normalise him, if not make him happier.

Which is why Remus was concerned about his obvious distaste for what they were going to do. He could see that James _wanted_ to believe Charlotte, but was also very aware that things weren't adding up. When he'd been out of odds with Charlotte and Sirius for those days, he'd been an utter mess. It was almost, to his shame, a relief on Remus' part, as James spent almost, if not all, concerned about Charlotte and Sirius, and fixing things with them. For a few days, he wasn't fixated on Lily, and it was the most ordinary James that he had encountered in far too long.

Remus only hoped it was worth it, going to all this trouble. He only hoped that they found something to quell their questions and allow them to move on.

He didn't want to admit it, but Remus was worried that they wouldn't find anything at all, and Charlotte's appearance would remain a mystery to them all. He knew for a fact that there was nothing remotely _normal_ about Charlotte, and how she seemed to have skipped over the better half of 6 years at Hogwarts, and he bet anything that whatever it was that was the answer to that enquiry, was related to her blatantly obvious struggle with magic. Somehow, all of it seemed connected.

Maybe even James odd fascination with Lily…

 _No, that was taking it too far._ Delving into fiction and fantasy rather than looking at the facts. If he were to do so, the fact remained that there were just too many questions and no answers. When it came to information as sensitive as Animagus, and it's obvious link to himself, he wanted to ensure, for all their sakes, that Charlotte could be trusted.

He really hoped she could be trusted, for her sake, for his, and probably most of all, for James'. They all knew, even if they had never said it aloud, what they would have to do if she couldn't be trusted. Just like the last one they had trusted with their secret, they learnt the severe miscalculation of who, and the capacity at which trust could be given.

Remus sighed, sitting back against his pillows as he looked up to the ceiling of his bed. Whether or not Charlotte could be trusted, they would soon learn exactly who she was.

Assuming they would find her file. _at all._

* * *

A/N

QUICK FYI- I UPLOADED THIS AT 12AM BEFORE I HAD A BETA READ OVER IT, IT WILL LIKELY HAVE SPELLING AND GRAMMAR ERRORS WHICH I WILL FIX AT A LATER DATE!

 **Hello everyone :)**

 **Sorry this is out to everyone so late. That's almost 2 whole months without a chapter! I'm working more, and we lost a few employees, so the pressure is high right now.**

 **So, I have been readying** _ **alot**_ **of fanfiction. Not just Harry Potter, I'm talking all over the shop. Game of thrones, lord of the rings, Star Wars, Gossip girl, Assassins creed, Skyrim, Vampire Knight, Supernatural, Suits. That's just to name** _ **a few.**_ **I worked out I start reading fanfic THE MOMENT the ship I go for sinks (or simply doesn't exist).**

 **Anyone else read that selection ^ ? If you know of any brilliant ones, send them my way. I'd love to read something someone else enjoys.**

 **Sorry, this chapter was** _ **sort of**_ **another filler.**

 **I needed to establish a timeline, as I was kind of all over the shop. We learn it's the end of May. AKA a month till their break, and a few weeks till their end of years. Now, I'm not going to lie…. ALOT is going to happen in this time period. I will try and not stretch it out, as we all know I have the tendency to do this. This chapter was around 4ish days, which isn't too bad. I needed to establish a timeline, as I was kind of all over the shop. We learn it's the end of May. AKA a month till their break, and a few weeks till their end of years. Now, I'm not going to lie…. ALOT is going to happen in this time period. I will try and not stretch it out, as we all know I have the tendency to do this. This chapter was around 4ish days, which isn't too bad.**

 **Anyway, hope you enjoyed and HOPEFULLY, the next chapter wont take as long as this one did.**

 **xx**


	21. Chapter 21

" _Tell me pretty lies,  
Look me in the face,  
Tell me that you love me,  
Even if it's fake,  
Cause I don't fucking care, at all"_

 **Chapter 21**

* * *

 **(~Charlotte~)**

Charlotte sighed, reading over her notes once more. She tapped her quill furiously on the desk, and bit her lip till she tasted blood.

 _Describe, in no less that 3 pages of parchment, the benefit of using ancient runes in protective inscriptions alongside protective charms_. Well, Charlotte had to scoff at that one. So far, all she'd learnt of Ancient Runes, was that it was a dead language. Even Merlin himself had not used runes all that often. The problem was, you could carve runes all you wanted, it was putting the magic _into_ the runes which gave them their power. So, you'd first learn how to cast the bloody difficult spell. Sure, the runes _held_ the magic, but if, like Charlotte, your practicality of magic didn't surpass basic, Ancient Runes was nothing more than old scribble left over from different mythologies.

Charlotte had been kicked out of class 6 times for presenting these thoughts to her teacher and, as always, she would return the next lesson with no lasting punishment or grudge. Professor Wertwyn was as poignant as he was old. He prattled on throughout every lesson, seemingly wilting away before their very eyes. It was, seemingly, only when someone challenged his very stagnated views that life was brought back into his eyes. He wasn't really any better, as all he did was kick them (her) out of the class with a note to see Professor Mcgonagall.

Yeah, she never went.

Charlotte sighed, her eyes dropping to the parchment before her. She sat looking at that parchment a moment before she flicked her quill away from the book and slumped back into the chair, closing her eyes in defeat. Nothing was sinking in. She had been at it for almost 2 hours, and she still wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a clabbert pustule and root of aconite. _Surely they weren't real potion ingredients?_

With their examinations in a little under a fortnight, she was virtually scraping in any last information she could retain. With 6 subjects, and at least 2-3 hours per exam it was bloody stupid to believe she could do any better than end the year in a bare pass. She might've had a chance, if she could at least bloody think about the work.

Charlotte lifted her eyes for a moment to glare at Lily who sat opposite her. As was Lily's study habit, she had pre-made study cards that she progressively made through the progression of the semester. An effective way of learning, to be sure. However, when it came to actually studying, Lily was quite possibly one of the most annoying companions to have. For one, Lily didn't believe in co-studying. She would quite happily supply implements, tools and even study notes for others to study, but she rarely ever studied with anyone else.

Charlotte was quite happy with this arrangement, as she tended to be distracted far easier when she was studying than any other time. So, it hadn't been an issue at all when Lily suggested they convene to the north tower in Class 104 to go through some notes. Whilst Lily was beyond prepared for their forthcoming exams, Charlotte had not even made notes yet. She would borrow Lily's, but her pride didn't allow it.

A quill set in her bag, a few scrap books Lily lent her, and around 8 different textbooks were lugged to the barren classroom in the hopes of _finally_ making some notes that would give her a passable mark for her 6th year at Hogwarts.

It had all started off fine, as it always did. Then, Lily started humming. Charlotte softly reminded her that she was having trouble focusing, and Lily was quick to apologise. She'd only written a page of notes when Lily started humming again, _and_ tapping her quill on the table. Well, Charlotte held in her sigh ( _credit to her)_ and asked, with a smile, if Lily wouldn't mind stopping. Lily laughed, apparently not even noticing she had been doing it to begin with. When Lily had progressed to tapping the table with her fingers and her study cards, she hadn't resisted the sigh that broke her lips. How hard was it to just be quiet, for not even an hour?

So, even when Lily began asking her questions, both relating to their school work, and not, Charlotte ignored her.

" _I'm fairly certain they do it on purpose you know? For all I know, they specifically chose my prefect route."_

"Oh really?"

" _Yes. Well, I have no proof. But I just know Potter is up to something. You know, he hasn't asked me out for weeks?"_

"Fascinating."

" _Mm, it's like I don't even exist sometimes. Then other times I catch him staring at me, and he looks away like he never looked over in the first place. But it's only been the last few weeks. No more than 2 months really. You don't have anything to do with it do you?"_

"There you go."

" _Are you even listening, or are you just saying what you think I want to hear."_

"Uh huh, I totally agree."

" _I shagged potter."_

"Mhmm."

Charlotte was brought out of the work before her for a moment as she ran over a thought. ' _Lily shagged Potter.'_ Charlotte's eyes widened and flittered up to Lily, who was awaiting for her response with a brow raised. Though the solidarity that Lily _couldn't_ be serious, echoed in the back of her mind, she was instantly brought to the disturbing thought that Lily and James…. That they… that it was possible.

It's not like she hadn't thought that it would ever…that he would…she would. Charlotte cleared her throat and shook her head, terminal confusion weighing in over all other feelings. Charlotte clenched her eyes tight as she tried to force out any imagery out of her mind. Was it because Lily was her sister, and James was as close to a brother as she'd ever had, besides Sirius? Was it because she hadn't fully accepted that James fancied Lily yet? She knew she'd progressively denied it for a few weeks, summing it up to a disturbed fascination rather than legitimate feelings he may have for her fairer sister.

Either all, she was so lost that the hand waving sporadically inches from her eyes did naught but make her blink.

" _Honestly, Charlotte?"_

She supposed she shouldn't have been so surprised. James was a bit of a ladies' man, and Lily had told Charlotte that she'd been 'warming up' to James of late. Though the words were never said, she wouldn't have been surprised if Lily found James attractive, or at least good looking. It would be hard to find anyone who couldn't find his looks amicable. Even Charlotte begrudgingly admitted that a smile from James made her blush. Admitted to _herself_ of course. She'd never admit that particularly embarrassing detail out loud.

Charlotte just hadn't thought they would have jumped on that bandwagon so quickly. Godric, they haven't even gone on a date and they skipped right over it all and went right _there_. Perhaps if had of been Sirius with… _anyone,_ surprised wouldn't be a word she could use to describe her thoughts, but it was even surprising for _James._

Perhaps that was a little harsh on Sirius…but she was comforted by the fact he'd likely be proud of that fact.

" _Charlotte?"_

She tried to think of the last time she'd seen James and Lily together in the same room, but she couldn't even remember the last time _she_ was in the same room as him, or Sirius…even Remus and Pete. Never mind _that_ , she was certain there were no hints at the suggestion that Lily and James… That she and he were… Charlotte shuddered, and shook her head again, focusing on Lily once more.

"Alright there?" Charlotte frowned at the small smirk on Lily's lips, not finding anything remotely amusing. Charlotte looked over Lily, assessing her sister with an accusing expression.

"Bullshit." Lily rolled her eyes and threw her hands in the air with the drama that would have competed with James.

"Well obviously," Lily breathed out, half laughing as she looked at her sister with an exasperated expression. "It was apparently the only way to get your attention. Something you're not telling me?" Charlotte didn't appreciate the suggestiveness in Lily's voice, and threw her quill at the redhead to prove it. Joke or not, she didn't need Lily, _of all people,_ going there.

Charlotte rubbed her eyes and breathed out a long sigh, not shocked at the relief that seemed to leave her as she sagged in her seat. "You couldn't find another way to get my attention?" Charlotte said with a groan. "I need to scourgify my brain!"

"So dramatic," Lily admonished with a brow raised, tossing the quill back. Charlotte raised a brow, not helping the ' _oh really?'_ that came out as a bare whisper.

"Well put it this way, you'd have the same reaction if I said I shagged Sirius." Instantly, just as Charlotte had expected, Lily screwed up her face. Charlotte rolled her eyes, waving her hand forward. "Exactly."

Lily nodded her head, assenting that Charlotte had a point. Charlotte could tell that Lily wanted to argue something, likely that she couldn't _stand_ Sirius, but James was Charlotte's friend, but knew well enough that Charlotte was now not in the mood to argue. Charlotte also wanted to point out that she was a little surprised and affronted that Lily would even say anything like that _anyway_.

"What's going on with you?" Lily asked, putting down her study cards to look over her sister with a suspicious eye. Charlotte struggled not to squirm under her sister's watch, and relented to just glare at her with an unimpressed lowered brow.

Just because Lily wasn't struggling under the weight of the end of years, didn't mean everyone else in the bloody school was. Godric, Lily even knew that Charlotte was far behind her studies, and relented to give her space to study whenever requested. Charlotte had a sneaking suspicion that Lily wanted her to admit how far behind she was. _Prat_.

She managed to prove her wrong when she frowned, looking concerned as she asked, "You haven't had any more dizzy spells have you?"

Charlotte slapped away the hand that Lily had attempted to rest on her forehead, glaring at the small smile on her sister's ruby lips.

"Nothing Lily, I'm perfectly fine." Charlotte said with a grunt, ignoring the eyes that trailed her moves knowing very well that her sister would see through her lies.

Truthfully, Charlotte on more than one occasion in the past few days almost blacked out, in the most random of situations. She could have been doing anything, and she would feel light headed. It was only really when she attempted any sort of magic that the piercing pain found its way to her skull. It felt like something was drilling into her brain, and pulling something out. Luckily, for her, her lack of friends, and her current 'friends' apparent distraction meant that no one really noticed. Not even Lily noticed. And Lily was in almost all her classes.

"You haven't been staying up late with those idiots have you?" Charlotte didn't have to look to know that Lily would have the stamp of disapproval all over her face. Lily had pointed out, on more than one occasion, that nothing good would come of it, and honestly, Charlotte was a little tired of arguing with her.

"I thought you liked Remus?" Charlotte quipped with a brow raised. Lily was obviously surprised by her answer, and Charlotte was pleased to see she'd caught her sister off guard. If the slight pinking of her cheeks were anything to say about it, she'd also managed to make her blush.

"I do, he doesn't count." Charlotte held in her smirk, and gave her a small smile instead. It wasn't often she caught her older twin off-guard, and she couldn't help but revel in the discomfort on Lily's face as she attempted to make herself busy by going through her study notes looking for something that was _apparently_ suddenly important.

"Well no, I haven't," Charlotte said in way of answering Lily's earlier question. Her smile dropped as she thought on it, realising she hadn't seen them, any of them for days now. She'd even noticed in class that they were _always_ in the class before her, paired up so she had no option to sit with Lily or on her own. She didn't particularly mind this, as she almost _never_ got work done when she sat with either James and Sirius, Pete didn't seem overly welcoming to her presence, and she hadn't had the opportunity to sit beside Remus as of yet. "I've barely spoken to them at all since... Sunday."

Lily had made a sound of recognition, but Charlotte barely heard it. Sunday had been the day after she and James had spent the night working on her Animagus potion, which still required a great deal of work. She had a feeling that, even though they ended the evening on a better note than it had seemingly turned out, James had some sort of issue with her, and it had to do with all those ridiculous questions he had been asking. She wished he'd just grow up and get over whatever it was

Then, out of the blue, on Tuesday, she'd greeted Remus and Sirius on her way down from her dorms, as she'd noticed them lounging near the painting entrance. Why, they all but ignored her, continued on chatting as though she'd never called their names, and left the common room, not noticing Charlotte standing at the foot of the stairs with a frown on her face.

If that wasn't bizarre enough, she'd gone to sit beside Sirius in Defense, only to have James practically run to take her place, starting an apparent _thrilling_ conversation that had them both seemingly too distracted to notice her standing before their table. She glared at them with a passive brow, until she simply rolled her eyes and walked to the back of the classroom, huffing about _stupid, immature gits._ She'd dropping her bag, slammed her textbook on the table and huffed loudly, none of which gathered the attention of either boy.

"Hm, maybe they finally worked out how annoying you are." Lily's suggestion was less than helpful, and not even remotely impossible. She wasn't _annoying_.

"Hilarious." Charlotte snapped, picking up her quill again and stabbing her parchment till a large black dot appeared, growing until it was at least the size of her thumb. Just like that stupid black ink, there was something growing inside of her. A fear that was a blatant distraction from her study. It was simply an aggravating inconvenience that couldn't have come at a better time.

"So…. Sirius?" Charlotte dropped her quill and leant back in her chair in defeat. Was it seemingly _impossible_ to just study? What happened to the disapproval, the bothersome sighs and ranting about how Charlotte should put her education first? That was apparently buggered in 15 minutes when Lily decided she wanted to have a _chat_ , of all things. About **Sirius** of all people.

If Lily's innocent smile was anything to say, she knew exactly what Charlotte was thinking."What? I'm taking a break from study and getting to know my twin who barely talks to me anymore!"

"Just friends." Charlotte supplied.

 _Leave it be._

"And you… Want it that way"

Charlotte sighed and deflated. She found herself assessing her views as of late. How could she _possibly_ hope to think that Lily wouldn't stick her perfect nose into all her business.

"No Lily," Charlotte said, turning to face her sister with a tight smile. "One kiss and i'm in love. Not like i socked him right after or anything."

Lily rolled her eyes, reading over a card as she contemplated something. "Well, honestly, i was expecting that sort of reaction. You are rather violent, and it _was_ your first kiss."

Charlotte sighed, barely grunting out a pathetic " _Don't remind me._ "

"What kiss?" Alice appeared out of the corner of the doorway a small smile on her lips as she looked between both girls. Charlotte offered her a half smile in recognition whereas Lily patted the seat beside her in encouragement. She closed the door behind her, stepping forward with her arms crossed.

"Alice, Charlotte was just telling me of her recent escapades." Lily raised her brows daringly at Charlotte, tilting her head slightly. Alice's expression was somewhat similar, though birthed from curiosity.

"I can assure you, it isn't nearly as exciting as it sounds," Charlotte managed with a fixed glare on her twin. "Though, _I suppose,_ still more exciting than yours Lily."

Lily's brows lowered and her lips parted slightly.

"Oh, see, that's funny… Because you never-" Alice began with a wide smile pointing at lily.

"Yes yes, I get it thank you." The redhead brushed off the comment, waving her hand about before flicking her curly locks over her shoulder. "A complete falsehood, but I understand the humour."

"Godric, you understand humour now as well?" Charlotte asked in mock surprise, smirking when she managed to make Alice snort into her hand. A valiant attempt at hiding her amusement which failed in every aspect.

"Oh enough," Lily admonished with a sigh, sending a betrayed look to her best friend who only grinned and moved to sit on a stool beside the bookshelf at the back of the room beside where Charlotte and Lily had set up their.

Charlotte was rather curious as to how Alice had known they were even at Class 104 for it had been a last minute decision to study together at all, and one didn't generally choose such a dreary area of the school to study. She'd subtly asked this of Alice, who revealed, with a bit of a smile in Lily's direction, that James and Remus had told her where Lily was.

Well, Lily just sighed, rolled her eyes and muttered a quiet ' _of course',_ turning her attention away from the both of them in favour of staring at the bleak wall.

Now how in the bloody black lake had James or Remus known where Lily was. After all, she'd only ever gone to the north tower when Charlotte asked her to, and Charlotte didn't ask her all too often. Tonight's events were sporadic and a last minute decision on a whim, the hope of bettering her marks was too sweet a temptation for Charlotte to ignore.

How curious.

Well, with the arrival of Alice, the distraction of their conversation and her growing curiosity, she knew for certain study would be quite impossible for the rest of the night. Slowly, whilst listening to Alice and Lily talk about a restaurant in London they planned to go to, she packed up her things into her brown bag. Charlotte wasn't being all that careful, so her parchment, notepad and textbooks ended up as a scrunched mess, but already her eyes were drooping, and she didn't care to clean it up now. She blamed it on her boredom on the current topic of conversation.

To be fair, they could have been talking about Animagi and it wouldn't have interested her in the moment, she was _that_ exhausted.

"I'm going to head off for the night, you coming?" Charlotte asked Lily, standing up and adjusting her cloak to cover up her pyjamas. As long as no one saw what she was wearing underneath the cloak, Charlotte couldn't see a problem in wearing whatever she found comfortable.

"Do you mind if I bunk with Alice? We are going to go over revision." Charlotte rolled her eyes, nodding her head as she swung her bag over her shoulder and grabbed her wand.

"Yeah, course. Night."

"Charlotte?" She sighed, turning to look at Lily with exasperation. She _knew_ what that tone meant. "Straight to the dorms, it's almost past curfew."

She left the room groaning, the sound of muffled laughter behind her. At least Alice found Lily's torture humorous.

* * *

 **(~James~)**

On the one hand, if they found her file, they would _at the least_ know she was telling the truth about the majority of things she'd said and they doubted. They would know that she was being truthful about being Lily's sister, being truthful about being at Hogwarts since their first year, and they could trust she had no ulterior motive to being friends with any of them or why she _curiously_ wanted to learn about being an Animagus.

If James thought about it, it was all rather strange. They find out that Lily has a sister, a _twin_ of all things, that has been in the same year, the same _class_ as them since they first started at Hogwarts. Not only that, but she has a pointed interest in Animagi. Now, if none of them were Animagi, that wouldn't really bother him, but what are the odds that she had an interest in Animagi, and he managed to stumble upon her in the library with the book that they'd only just returned a week before. Just the implication that she was interested in Animagi at all made him a little queasy.

He hadn't even thought to ask the rest of the boys, especially Remus, about telling Charlotte that he was an Animagus. An illegal Animagus at that. He hadn't really thought of anything at all, other than the possibility that he'd finally found a way of getting closer to Lily.

Well now… now he was worried. His memory wasn't crystal, and every now and then he called people by the wrong name, but not once, in the last 6 years could he remember seeing or meeting Charlotte. Then, quite suddenly, she was there one day, and it was though she always had been. He hadn't thought to question it. So, yes.. He'd told her about being an Animagus, possibly endangering them all, but he'd gone with his instincts, and his instincts had yet to fault him seriously. Well… besides Lily…. And Charlotte _apparently._

If her file wasn't in there… well James didn't even know what they would do if her file wasn't in there. He knew what they _should_ do; but it would raise too many questions. Surely Lily would notice something, and if not Lily, perhaps Alice.

Wasn't like it worked out brilliantly the first time, and they'd all learnt that it wasn't as simple as they thought. Obliviating someone's memories _always_ had an unforeseeable consequence.

James visibly shuddered as he mentally pushed away the memory, almost knocking into Sirius in the process. Wasn't exactly hard to do considering they were all tightly packed together under his cloak. He shuffled over, and focused again on walking forward without knocking into anyone.

He _really_ didn't want to be doing this, tonight of all nights, even if it had been his idea. He'd got an owl back from his dad about his Mum, and hadn't even had a chance to open it when he was reminded what they were going to be doing. He knew, had he of explained, they would happily wait for him. But, as it were, only Charlotte knew of his Mum's current health problems and he wasn't prepared to tell the others. He knew Sirius had his suspicions, and Remus of course, but until he read the letter, he would keep it to himself.

He'd also written to his mum that morning, just under an hour before his first class. He told her about how he was doing in school, all the mischief he got up too. He told her that his Quidditch cape would need a stitch, _again_ , knowing it would make her laugh. He told her about Charlotte. His Mum had already heard bits and pieces about Charlotte in his last letter. He'd mentioned that he'd found out Lily had a sister, and that they were helping each other out, but that was really all.

It certainly hadn't encouraged him to share any more when she'd asked questions like 'Is she pretty?' and 'Will you be bringing her home for dinner in the holidays?' It was rather clear what she was insinuating.

Though in this letter, unlike the last, he described who Charlotte was. He told her about Charlotte's slow growing trust, her sarcasm, her quick wit and temper that he was sure his mum would appreciate (another woman who had a quick temper). He talked about her messy hair, and how she seemed to frown all the time. He'd also written a little about Sirius and Charlotte, and how he could see something there. He was obviously brief on that point.

If he didn't consider Charlotte to be a good mate...bird...friend, he might've actually been a tad embarrassed about all the ink he used just trying to describe who she was to his Mum. Godric only knows what nonsense he wrote about Remus, Pete and Sirius.

He… Well, he hadn't actually thought to tell his mum anything about Lily. It made his throat run dry for a moment. Rather odd, considering most letters spilled out every detail of lily he'd daringly write on parchment.

If anything, he had _more_ of a reason to write about the witch to whom his affections held. The progression over just the few short weeks had him almost believing he may have a chance with the fiery redhead.

Just that morning, middle of charms class, he'd _accidentally_ bumped into her. She stumbled and , like the gentleman he is, he'd reached out with both hands to grasp onto her forearms. She tore her limbs from his hold as soon as she realised the culprit that had made her jump so heavily. Well, instead of teasing her or taking the opportunity to pull her close, he let go, like her skin was molten lava, giving her a stern, yet sincere apology, before turning and walking back to his desk.

3...2...1…. And yep, she was looking at him with wide startled eyes. He avoided those eyes, ducking his head. He also hid the smirk that was seemingly a permanent stain on his face. Padfoot drew his eyes curiously over his mates satisfied expression, asking him what he seemed so happy about. Well, when James had told him, all Sirius did was frown and look back at the open book on his desk.

" _Pete, you're on my bloody foot."_

" _I'm sorry, but you have such big feet. Maybe if we had gone with my idea-"_

" _Shut up."_

He sighed lowly, wondering what she was doing, who she was with. Did she ever think of him? Did she still hate him? Though, she'd said in no less words that _did_ hate James, he still found it hard to believe that Lily could hate anyone, much less someone she didn't know all that much about. If she just gave him a chance...

" _Don't tell me to shut up! Remus, he just told me t-"_

" _And I really don't care. Both of you shut up."_

" _Jaaaaames, Remus told us to shut up."_

" _James."_

James was brought out of his thoughts by a hand roughly shoving him forward. He turned to glare, but just found Remus staring at him with a confused smile. "James, Mate wake up."

He looked around, and all three boys were watching after him with different levels of amusement and curiosity. He had obviously lapsed out of the conversation a while back and they'd only seemingly caught on now. They shouldn't have really been talking _anyway_ , after all they were crouching their way around the corridors at almost midnight. Remus could quite possibly get away with it, depending on the professor who caught him and their mood, however the moment they saw James, Sirius or Pete, they'd be lucky to get away with _only_ a detention in their back pocket.

"What's up?" James whispered motioning forward for them to begin moving again. They had a few more corridors to go till they got to Mcgonagall's office, and the sooner they arrived, the better.

Remus came to his side and bumped James' shoulder with his own, offering him an amused smile when James gave him a look of his confusion. "Galleon for your thoughts?" Remus whispered, watching him.

James sighed. Generally, he didn't mind the attention being on him, but at the moment, having his mate's eyes on him simply made him feel itchy in the oddest way possible.

He was never the best at lying, and Sirius would at least pick up on it if he ever _tried_ , so he gave a simple one worded answer to settle any curiosity. "Lily."

James paused and turned to look at Sirius with a raised brow when a low groan exited his mouth."Oh bloody hell, here we go," he managed with a dramatic sigh, waving a hand towards James as though expecting him to suddenly gush about the red-head.

It had him frowning, wondering if he really did talk about her that often to the point where he actually _bored_ his mates senseless.

"Sirius, you don't-" James started, his brows furrowed deeply.

"Let me guess. You've seen her like I never have. She's as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside. Heart of gold. True Gryffindor with all that selfless, idiotic courage. Shits rainbows, feeds the starving, shelters the homeless?"

James watched him for a moment, unsurprised, yet disappointed all the same that he could never find anything remotely positive or relatively nice to say about Lily. Perhaps James did embellish Lily on occasion, but it wasn't like she was a bloody accomplice of you-know-who. She _was_ a good person.

James didn't know when it started, the dislike between the two, but he first noticed it in their third year. Of course he, Sirius, Pete and, reluctantly, Remus teased Lily on rather regular basis. Never to the point they'd actually hurt her feelings, just silly things like her hair and her enthusiasm for school.

It was only when he'd walked into the common room one evening to find Sirius and Lily going at it like bloody _Manticores_. He'd had his fair share of arguments with Lily, but this had been fuelled by something he'd never noticed before between the two and he knew instantly their dislike for each other was far broader than just silly quibbles over staying up late or cheating in a test. It was as though, in a single moment, where there was once a simple dislike, hatred like he'd never known grew in them like a black fog.

It made him rather dejected, knowing his best mate and the girl he fancied had it out for each other and there was nothing he could do about it. He'd tried, on several occasions to bring Lily's good attributes to Sirius' attention, but just as he had before, he tossed it away as though it were all rubbish.

James sighed, looking at Sirius with an unrecognisable expression. "I was just going to say she's kinder than you think." He then turned and tugged on the cloak, signalling for the mass of arms and legs to begin moving again. He missed Sirius' guilty expression, not that it would have done him any good anyway. It was one thing to feel guilty about saying something, another to regret and wish you hadn't said it.

"How bout we focus on what we are here to do, Hm" Remus said, shuffling himself so he was at the front of the group, strategically in between James and Sirius.

"I'm tired, my feet are sore, and this all seems pretty sodding pointless." Sirius grumbled, shooting James a glare, who returned the favour by flipping the bird and cursing him to 'sodding hell'. Of course, he'd done both in his head, but it made him feel a little better, regardless.

 _It always did_ James thought with a smirk. Sirius was still burning holes into James, who sighed in exasperation.

"It isn't bloody pointless, it's logical. We work out how to get the file now, so when we go to actually get it on the weekend, we aren't stumbling round the corridors," James argued, for what felt like the fifth time that evening.

He knew it was _odd_ that they were having a practise run of sorts, but considering what happened the last time they tried to break into a professor's office, and the multitude of detentions that came of it, he'd thought they would all appreciate it, not whine about how bloody sore their feet were.

Sirius didn't feel the same way, and he made it obvious by tossing the corner of the cloak that had been covering him off of his shoulders and standing up. James followed, cringing for a moment as he stretched his back, his body reminding him of how long he'd been crouching under that bloody thing.

"We have the map, I don't understand why we would need to do this at all?" Sirius said, a little more loudly than necessary, as he threw out his hands. Remus hissed at him, begging him to be quiet, but all Sirius did was leave his arms up in question, raising a mocking brow to James.

Quite sick of whatever shitty mood Sirius woke up in, James was just about ready to yell his head off. "Well-" James started, stopping immediately when a figure appeared around the corner of the corridor. In a split second, James and Sirius' eyes met, and both their hands reached for their wands.

"Evening gents."

* * *

 **(~ Charlotte ~)**

Charlotte jumped right out of her skin when both James and Sirius turned their wands on her, jabbing them harshly into her neck. Even though they both clearly faltered, realising who it had been they'd nearly decapitated, the wands remained under her chin, digging into her skin. She swiped her hand, knocking both wands away from her neck.

"Bloody hell! Was that even _remotely_ necessary?" Charlotte asked with a huff, prodding a finger to her sensitive neck. Bruised, just as she'd suspected. Those stupid _gits. "_ What if I had been a bloody teacher! Godric, you better be bloody glad it was me!"

"Charlotte?" She glared at James, as though to say ' _duh'. "_ What on earth are you doing strolling round the castle….. In your pyjamas?"

Taking a look downwards, she realised that her cloak was open a tad, and peeking through you could see her spotty silk bottoms and black top that appeared suspiciously made for the opposite gender. Rolling her eyes, she wrapped the cloak around her, tying it with a double knot for good measure. As though trying not to prove that she was _in any way_ blushing, she glared at James and Sirius, an accusing spark in her eyes.

"Well, I'm heading back to the common room from the North tower" They both nodded their understanding, and Sirius seemed to want to question her attire, but she cut in before he even had a chance to voice his thoughts. "Question is, what the bloody hell are you two doing?"

They met each other with a sides glance, only managing to furrow her brows lower. Perhaps Lily had been right…. Perhaps they _were_ up to something.

"Nothing, nothing at all."

"Just, taking a leisurely stroll."

Charlotte nodded her head slowly, taking a moment of silence so they realised how idiotic they sounded. Of course, they were slower than the average male wizard, so all they did was smile innocently.

"At 11:30 pm?" She asked, raising a brow.

"Why not? I've always though the castle looks magical at night." Both Sirius and Charlotte turned to look at James with brows raised. Charlotte's lips quirked into a smile as James' cheeks flushed a rosy pink and his bottom lip pouted in embarrassment. He huffed out an annoyed breath saying, "Oh shut up."

Taking him by surprise, she gave him a quick wink, missing the double take as a result. She raised her brows to Sirius, showing she obviously wasn't convinced that their frivolity was for a _magical_ walk around the cattle.

"Well, mind if I join you?"

Sirius waggled his brows and offered her a sultry smile.

"Not at all." Charlotte rolled her eyes and gave Sirius an exasperated look. He chuckled and relented his flirting with his hands up. She turned her eyes to James, noticing his annoyed glare directed at Sirius.

When he noticed her looking, he smiled softly. "Sorry Charlotte, we were going to head to the boys prefect bathroom, set up some pranks for the 7th years."

It was coming up to their last weeks at Hogwarts, and it had become customary over the past few years for the resident pranksters to make sure the senior year left with a 'bang'. That still didn't quite explain _why_ she couldn't go with them. "So?"

" _Well, I've never particularly had anything against women coming into men's bathrooms, though I suppose it was always under different circumstances…."_

Charlotte wasn't even listening as Sirius answered her question, for James had turned rather curiously. His eyes seemed to widen, and they met hers for a second, noticing her suspicion. Like magic, his panic left and a relaxed smirk say in its place.

" _Matilda, now she was an absolute firecracker. Real spirit in that girl. We had-"_

Charlotte rolled her eyes, crossed her arms on her chest and faced Sirius, pretending to be captivated by what he was saying ( _not at all realising he was proudly proclaiming his sexual exploits)_. Charlotte watched with amusement as James pulled out his wand, coughed and dropped it, rather unceremoniously. He leant down to pick it up, and suddenly Charlotte's smile was gone.

"- _besides, even if it did lead there…. James is with us. So inappropriate of you to think that Charlotte! Obviously we'd need somewhere a little more pri-"_

She was staring at his ass. **Staring at James bloody Potters ass.** Charlotte's lips parted, and she was aware she probably looked like a gaping fish. It registered in her mind that she should _definitely_ look away. However, the thought didn't seem to cause any actions, as her dark blue eyes seemed enraptured by his backside.

" _And you really don't care do you? Like I'm talking to a bloody brick wall here. Or myself. Lovely, I'm chatting to myself whilst surrounded by 4 other people."_

She _knew_ that there was a part of her distinctly aware that she found James attractive, but she certainly hadn't thought that made her attracted _to_ him. Godric, she'd seen the man shirtless and it hadn't managed to cause a reaction like this. There was a distinct difference between knowing someone was attractive, and being attracted to them. Charlotte found herself suddenly landing face first into the latter.

And she was horrified. Horrified that she thought he a nice ass. Horrified that her thoughts were like that, _for James._ Horrified that she had the thoughts at all. Horrified that she was **STILL STARING AT HIS BLOODY ASS.**

" _Charlotte_ ," Sirius whined, snatching Charlotte's attention. She felt her cheeks blot a bright red, and when her eyes flickered back to James, he was tucking his wand into his jacket. Rear end hidden from her perverted eyes. He raised a curious brow, no doubt noting her wine coloured face.

"Sorry Sirius," Charlotte muttered, fingers gripping the bridge of her nose as tried to sort out what the hell was going on with her. She let go, signed and looked at Sirius, who was still moping. "Start from the start, I'm listening now."

Sirius tilted his head slightly, a small smile on his face as he looked at her (likely) rosy cheeks. "I was just saying that you'll be in deep trouble if you get found in the gents bathroom. Others have been punished for far less."

Charlotte nodded slowly, pointedly avoiding looking at James. In fact, she was almost glaring at Sirius, just to avoid looking over at James, knowing that she was already blushing.

"Fine. I'll bugger off then, enjoy your evening boys." She bit her lip and nodded in ways of a farewell. Before she could take a step away, James latched onto her arm, and he was suddenly just a few centimetres away, his eyes narrowed as they danced across her face

"Now, curse me if I'm wrong, but… Are you blushing?" He teased, a smirk on his lips. He obviously enjoyed that her face flushed a bright red at his encouragement if his ever growing smile was anything to say about it.

She tried to contain it. Truly she did. It wasn't easy to just _want_ away a blush. It was a chemical reaction in her body, something she couldn't just remove, no matter how hard she glared. And boy, did she _glare_. It, after all, was his fault.

It hit her, now more than it ever had over the past few weeks, how often she found herself in sticky situations because of James Potter. She was just _trying_ to go back to the common room, and she'd somehow managed to bump into him. Granted, she bumped into people all the time, but so far they'd never risen a wand to her throat (or recognised her at all). Now, she was standing there, with his hand _still_ holding her arm as he inspected whatever words that were seemingly printed along her forehead.

And she was annoyed. Annoyed when he smiled, even though it was just out of kindness. Annoyed when he joked, even though she knew his humour was for the benefit of others and not generally at their expense. Annoyed when he cared, and more so when he didn't. Everything he did seemed to aggravate the bloody hell out of her, not just because he _was_ annoying, but also because how she _felt_ about all those pesky things that irked her. How she _felt_ about him. All this annoyance seemingly stemmed from her sudden appreciation for his ass. Or, at least, it had felt like it in the moment.

Her brows furrowed dangerously, her lips drawn into a firm line, seemingly denting her face into passive submission. From appearance alone, she looked bothered as hell. To a point she was incredibly so. What she couldn't work out was, if she was more annoyed at herself or the sodding idiot still holding onto her arm.

As it were, she was having a hard time trying not to outline his moving lips with her eyes, consciously inhale the stranded scent he seemed to drag wherever he went and move any closer to him than was necessary.

She felt that disgustingly familiar feeling in her chest, which only seemed to build till her hands were sweaty and a permanent heat settled on her face.

What did he see when he looked at her? Currently, he was giving her a goofy grin, likely because he was talking to her, and so far all she'd done was stare him down with a glare, her eyes flicking to his lips every now and then. She knew what he saw when he looked at Lily. Perfection, in its most solidified form. With an inability of seeing the flaws in his feelings, which had always seemed obvious to Charlotte, he was certain Lily was the perfect witch.

Perhaps she was.

Did he think she was a good friend? Did he enjoy her presence? Did he feel sorry for her, is that why he was her friend? Did he see a young woman so completely lost in her sister's shadow, she'd forgotten the simple complexities of friendship, the beautiful nature of conversation and the bare need for human contact?

Did he see _her?_ Did he see her as she was, not as who she was trying to be, or who she feverantly tried _not_ to be? Did he _pity_ her? Charlotte didn't know what James saw, because, for the moment, all she saw when she looked at him was a confused smile, concerned brows and his wide hazel eyes that flickered so quickly between her eyes, she almost missed the blue hidden beneath the brown.

She saw _him._

Just for a moment, Charlotte's attention flittered to the left, meeting Sirius' stormy grey eyes which were widened, flashing between James and her at lightening speed. Her own eyes widened, recognising what he must be thinking. _Stupid Charlotte._ It was certainly enough for her to jump back, wrenching her arm out of James grip.

She'd never be able to recount whatever excuse she made up, but all she knew, was that it was directed completely at Sirius. She swiftly turned on her foot and hurried down the hall. When she was almost at the end, she turned around to find Sirius seemingly talking to the wall, and James staring after her.

Her cheeks lit up as she dashed back around and walked directly into a statue, the stone probably breaking _something_ as she tripped and did all she could to not crash to the floor.

She was _not_ this clumsy and she certainly _never_ went around staring at people's ass's. She was _not_ attracted to James Potter and she _refused_ to believe that what happened early was nothing more than appreciating something for what it was. She saw him as a _friend._

Charlotte shrugged her shoulders in nonchalance, as though convincing herself it was no big deal that she was suddenly checking guys out from behind and considering them in ways she'd never before. Convincing herself that finding James attractive was something that couldn't be helped, and wouldn't change _anything_. Why, she found Sirius attractive, and she _and he_ both knew she didn't fancy the fool because of should it be any different with James?

She was worrying over _nothing_.

She couldn't deny it sounded like a pathetic lie to her own ears.

* * *

 **(~James~)**

James watched her leave with a frown, impatiently tapping his fingers on the side of his leg. What were they _doing_. Was that confrontation not proof enough that she couldn't possibly be lying to them, that they could trust her? She was their friend, and it made James feel queasy at the thought of screwing that up. _Again._ Were they all really doing this simply because James had the inability to completely trust that she was…who she said she was?

He could tell she was suspicious. Why, he'd stood there talking to her for almost 5 minutes, only to have her glare back at him with a stony expression. She hadn't even cracked a smile when he'd commented on the colour of her cheeks, which were a rare pink.

He had to scoff, knowing it was as lame as it sounded. If they couldn't trust her, why wouldn't they just trust Lily? James was quite surprised that Remus was up for it, knowing that his sandy haired mate was _friends_ with Lily. He didn't have any doubt that Lily was telling the truth, so it was quite surprising that he'd even consider that she was lying.

 _Why were they doing this again?_

"Padfoot, mate, come on," James said with a sigh, running a hand through his hair as he glared at his friend. "Was any of that necessary?"

"Any of what?" James had noticed him glowering the moment Charlotte left, but apparently, his _shitty_ attitude was directed towards James. What the bloody hell had he done? Why was someone _always_ annoyed with him these days? Was he that much of a git?

Well, he had no idea what he'd done, but the raw _venom_ Sirius had spat his way was certainly suggestive that he'd done something to invoke his sudden ire. And, well, that rather annoyed James.

"Oh come on. If your gonna flirt with her, at least do it with a little class," James said loud enough for all of them to hear, rolling his eyes. He didn't hear the intake of breath and the forlorn sigh that broke afterwards nor the nervous chuckle. He started walking again in the direction of McGonagall's office, not yet noticing that no one was following. "Were you trying to draw a bloody visual picture? No one needed to hear that rubbish. No one _wants_ to hear that rubbish."

"Oh you're kidding me." Sirius snapped, holding a hand up and looking at Remus with wide eyes. Remus gave him a stern look, and he looked back towards James with furrowed brows "Please tell me you're joking."

James straightened his shoulders, looking at Sirius with a straight expression. Looking at his _best mate_ with a straight expression. He, of all people, should recognise that James wasn't even close to joking. What was Sirius even been thinking, spitting out that rubbish. Even if Charlotte hadn't seemed _bothered_ by what Sirius had been saying, James couldn't imagine she suddenly had an interest in Sirius' exploits.

If Sirius really did have an 'interest' in Charlotte, as the idiot refused to label it as _fancy_ , he was certainly going about it the wrong way. What Sirius tried with other girls would only seem creepy to Charlotte. At least, James thought so. To James, he just sounded like a wanker.

He frowned, looking at Sirius in exasperation. "Course I'm n-"

"James, let it go." Remus said with an admonishing sigh, rolling up the cloak and tucking it in his satchel which hung against his hip.

"Me?" James spat out with a surprised breath, looking between Remus and Sirius with wide eyes.

"Am I the one wondering why Charlotte wasn't on the map?" James turned to Pete, raising a brow and quirking his lips in amusement. Was he joking? Of course she was on the map. She _had_ to be on the bloody map. If she was in Hogwarts she was on the map. That's just how it went. Obviously, Pete did find it as funny as he did, as he held up the map, eyes frantic and hands shaking. "She wasn't on the bloody map!"

James sighed, walking over beside Pete. He pulled the map out of his hands, opening it till he saw the first floor of the Turris Magnus staircase, where all the DADA classrooms were located. _Also_ where McGonagall's office was located. They were still 2 corridors off, but he could see all 8 of their feet in the correct corridor. The map _appeared_ to be working just fine."You sure you were looking in the right place?"

Pete gave him an affronted look, crossing his arms on his chest. Sirius and Remus had huddled over, and they were now in a tight circle around the map, watching with prudent eyes for any odd movements. "Course i was, she wasn't there, then BOOM she's right in front of us." James rolled his eyes, turning the map so they could see more of the first floor and... _there_ was Charlotte, walking at a steady pace in the direction of the common room. "Look there she is now and-"

They all watched with mouths gaped wide as Charlotte's padding footprints disappeared from the map. Well there was no question anymore. No hesitation or worry over hurt feelings, something very _wrong_ was going on, and James couldn't do much but stare at the map with his mouth gaped open wide.

The map had _never_ been wrong. **NEVER.** He would be lying if he didn't admit there was a fear growing in his chest, alongside whatever comfort he'd felt in Charlotte's presence in the past. This confirmed their fears, and made any argument _against_ getting her file all but bloody redundant.

" _Holy shit_." James swore lowly, eyes still caught on the area Charlotte's name had been, just a second ago.

"There she is again!" James almost dropped the bloody thing in shock when his eyes travelled to the section Pete pointed at with his wand as, just as he'd yelled, Charlotte's name and footprints appeared out of nowhere.

"Well, unless she is apparating in the bloody castle, there is some rubbish going on." James looked up, meeting Sirius' eyes, noting they were just as wide as his eyes felt. Whatever mood or tension between them earlier, was _gone_ as though it hadn't been there in the first place. They had more pressing matters to address, and they didn't need to voice their agreeal that Charlotte disappearing in the castle was more important than their petty argument.

"Its possible its just the map. Though we have never seen this happen before… its real bloody unlikely." Remus voiced aloud, a mere mumble under his breath loud enough in the deafening silence.

James, and the rest of them, stood watching Charlotte walk through the castle until she was back in the common room, and her name blurred within the others. Still, the silence dragged on… none of them knowing what to say.

"Screw it, we aren't going tomorrow night. Let's just do it tonight." It left his lips before he'd even thoroughly thought of the idea, but knew it was the right decision once all eyes met his."We get her file tonight." Sirius appeared to agree with him, and he was thankful for it. Pete seemed simply terrified, and Remus had a range of emotions, the most obvious being paralyzing uneasiness.

"Prongs, is that wise? You were the one who said we needed to safeguar-" Remus said slowly, eyes wide.

How could they do anything else? They were already so close and they had even _more_ questions that needed answering. He didn't like it, none of them did. But what else could they do?

"That was before she was disappearing from the map. Thank you moony, but we have no choice now."

* * *

 **(~Sirius~)**

Sirius was pissed, and he knew _why_ he was pissed, he just didn't know why _why_ he was pissed. Then he realised that didn't even make sense, shook his head, and focused back on watching out for anybody with James. All was quiet, and he couldn't even hear Remus and Pete. Just the muted breathing of his best mate who was crouched on the other side of the door, the invisibility cloak draped over the both of them.

Even after the shock of Charlotte disappearing from the map, he could _still_ only think about one bloody thing.

He was bloody pissed at James, and it wasn't even James' fault. At first, Sirius had found it humorous, that Charlotte hadn't said anything earlier, when he was trying to encourage her _not_ to come with them to the boys bathroom. It'd been a little bit of harmless flirting at first, and she had such a stern concentrated expression, that he was almost confused.

She wasn't embarrassed, humoured or disgusted by his suggestiveness. So, he emboldened the story a little, added in a few bits and pieces that she didn't really need to know. Still, she didn't say anything, and it was then, that he realised she wasn't even looking at him.

Still talking, he turned slightly to find James picking up his wand, simultaneously pulling the cloak over a foot that seemed to appear out of nowhere. Sirius smirked and looked back towards Charlotte, impressed with James' skills. That was when he realised just _what_ she had been looking at.

"So, Charlotte was staring at your ass." Sirius blinked, not even realising he'd decided to share that with James. Well, it was out now. No taking it back.

"What?" James whispered back, half-laugh covering the word. "Good one."

Sirius frowned, and looked over at James with a glare. He was _pissed_. He knew why, because Charlotte had stared at James ass and, if the rosy cheeks were anything to say, obviously liked it. Not to mention her little staring contest afterwards. Apparently James hadn't seen it, but there was _somethin_ g there. He wasn't saying that Charlotte 'fancied' James, _for Godric's sake_ , but he knew that look.

 _Generally_ he recognised the look, because it was being given to _him_. The fact that _that_ pissed him off, seriously pissed him off. What should he care if a bird thought his mate's ass was good. Usually he'd encourage James to go at it, but this was _Charlotte._

…. And she'd rejected him.

"Yeah aha" Sirius cleared his throat, scratching the back of his neck. That didn't even seem slightly believable, but James didn't seem to notice as he scanned the hall with narrowed eyes. _Bugger._ Sirius sighed, and shook his head as he watched his friend with a small smile.

* * *

 **(~Remus~)**

" _Remus, what does it say?"_

" _Remus, i can't see it."_

"Just give me a second Pete," Remus snapped, wincing when Pete retracted from him. Tad harsh that was.

His eyes were drawn back to the small manilla folder. Though small, he knew for a fact that the moment he opened it, pages would spill out. That was assuming their filing hadn't changed since their 3rd year, when they thought it'd be a brilliant idea to change Severus' middle name to greasy. It turned out to be impossible, but the trip had at least been educational. Sirius had dropped the whole folder when he'd opened it, only to have pages among pages of the written notes. Written by who, they weren't sure. It was barely intelligible.

Holding it in one hand, he sunk to the floor, Pete sitting beside him with a surprising amount of patience. Remus took a breath out, quickly glanced at Pete, whose eyes were wide, then opened the folder.

Just as Severus' had, parchment filled the folder till it began sliding out. Luckily, Remus was both expecting this, and generally overly cautious, so he caught it all without fault. He noted the amount, and burrowed his brows. Perhaps not as much, but it was better than nothing at all. Which, admittedly, he'd been expecting.

Never one to jump ahead, Remus picked up the first page. It was her birth certificate. _Charlotte Amaraylss Evans_ , well, it at least answered the question of her middle name. He was also satisfied to discover that there was a flower name _somwhere_ , after all, Lily had told him all the women in their family had a flower name.

Her birth date, place… Everything checked out. He flipped the page, and was met with a photo. Remus frowned and turned the photo so it was horizontal. It was a photo of Charlotte, who looked as though she was no more than 10 years old. Without her height, which obviously came later in life, she was a tiny thing. In a little white coat, she seemed to stumble through a muggle shop of some sort. She was looking for something, or someone and was in clear panic. Her hair, which was cut to her shoulders, seemed to rebelliously stick up at all angles as she ran through aisles and around coat hangers.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Pete scoot closer, so he tilted to photo at an angle that they could both watch.

The little girl was approached by a woman, obviously not the person she was looking for. She started running again, and as she did, clothing down every aisle started to fly off hangers and shelves. Remus raised his brows, looking at Pete, whose eyes were furrowed.

Charlotte continued running until the entire shop was cluttered with clothing. Eventually a woman came into the shop, searching and finding Charlotte. Her mum, as made obvious by Charlotte's reaction, which was to run to her and hug her.

Then the photo stopped.

Her magic had clearly appeared as an emotional backlash. Remus had a feeling that it no doubt terrified their parents to discover that not one, but both their little girls had developing magic. Remus put the photo aside, and watched as pete picked it up, watching the scene again with furrowed brows. What had Remus worried, was _how_ Hogwarts came into possession of such a memory. And he'd also like to know if they had such memories for everyone, or only specifically for children whose magic was presented in such unexpected ways.

He knew for a fact that not all children, be them muggle born, half blood or pureblood were presented with magic caused by their emotions. James hadn't, Sirius had. It was more to do with the child then the blood 'purity'.

Next in the folder was another photo, one that was clearly a few years later. In fact, this photo had Lily. Remus held the photo closer and watched carefully. Unlike the other photo which seemed focused on Charlotte, as though whatever camera they had stolen the photo from was following charlotte around, this photo was zoomed out, the Redhead barely in sight.

Lily was in a wooden room, small and surrounded with toys… a cubby house. She was with a little boy with slick black Ha- _Severus_. Lily had 3 little cubes that she floated from one hand to the next. He already knew about this particular memory, as Lily had told him about it a few years ago. Unlike Charlotte's clear display, Lily's magic began more elegantly. Just as scared of what she was doing, she found she could float items around. It was later that she would be able to make flowers appear.

Severus watched on with a surprising amount of emotion. Of course he'd _heard_ from Lily that he was more than his stiff stance, large nose and deep scowl, but he'd yet to see that part of him at all.

Well, the scene continued for a good while, which made Remus awfully curious as to why it was in _Charlotte's_ file. That was, of course, until the photo zoomed in to Charlotte. The girl, taller than she'd been in the previous photo, had hair matted to her cheeks and he almost chuckled at the mass of knots, finding it unsurprising at all. She was holding onto the ladder of the small cubby house that was situated in a large arrow-root tree, her eyes barely seeing into the room from where she stood on her tippy-toes.

Suddenly, she was sliding down the ladder and running. Now, Remus realised by now that these weren't normal photos. For one, most photos went for a few seconds _at the most_ , it was also eerily clear that the camera was trained onto Charlotte. That bothered him more than he could articulate. The fact that Hogwarts, _Dumbledore_ had been watching them as young children? Remus sat straighter against the shudder that rolled down his spine.

His eyes focused back on the photo, finding Charlotte in a room. Likely hers and Lily's by the look of it. 2 beds were situated on each wall, and toys strewn without. The little girl paced inside the room, her arms tight to her side and her eyes wide. She stopped suddenly, and just as sudden as her movements stopping, every piece of furniture, clothing, toy was thrown to the four walls of the room. Then he saw Lily and Severus again.

" _Salazar,"_ Pete whispered, eyes wide on the photo. "Hard to believe it's the same witch." Her temper, _no_ , but her magical abilities definitely. Remus offered him a grim frown, handing him the photo as he continued to sort through the file.

He found more photos, all of which were pretty much the same as the first two. He found her invitation letter to Hogwarts, a letter from her parents to Professor Dumbledore, requesting a meeting. Remus flicked through her first year reports, test papers, a detention notice or two and a final assessment of the girl for the year.

Remus frowned, not at all wanted to read through. The assessments were a little more _personal_. It wasn't just about academics. It was a full report of Charlotte's year. Her friends, any bullying. How her attention was based in class, who she worked well with, and who she didn't.

He didn't read it fully, knowing that he would appreciate a small sense of privacy if the roles were reversed. He noted that ' _Miss Evans spent most of her quality time with her twin, though begrudgingly later in the year.'_ Remus read a little of her _'Struggles to relate to others her age. More so when they seemed to pay more attention to the other Miss Evans.'_ Remus sighed, regretful that Charlotte's insecurities in relation to her sister started at such a young age.

He could have read on, but didn't. There was more to go through, and not that much time.

He flipped through more photos, more tests and more assessments until it was her Fourth year. Her Third year assessment noted her increasingly _'Agitated interactions with anyone that wasn't her sister. Miss Evans seems to snap at other children and Professors for quite small matters. On the 14_ _th_ _of May, Miss Evans stormed from her class, not returning to her classes for the day when she was reprimanded for calling a fellow student a 'Absolute Wanker', The professor in question was unaware of who Miss Evans was at the time, and that was the reason she had-'_

Remus read on, realising that most of Charlotte's detention notices were over something _extremely_ minor, her only real fault being that the professors were increasingly unaware of who she was. He sighed, rubbing his eyes wearily. He had hoped that something like this would at least clear up a little of their questions, but all it did was raise more, and that was more worrying than the questions themselves.

Remus flipped through a page or two, test scores and exam results. Then, quite suddenly, he was looking at her O.W.L results, and the potions essay from the start of the year.

" _Impossible,"_ Remus whispered, shuffling through all the parchment before, checking the day of everything March 11th Third year, January 28th Fourth year, September 19th Fifth year and then he held her O.W.L results, dating 12th of April Fifth year and her potions exam October 7th, Sixth head.

Remus jumped up from where he was seated, alarming Pete to the point where he jumped quite high in the air with a rather impressive squeak. He went to where he had found her folder in the first place, pushing folders aside, and checking on each shelf for any loose papers. _Nothing._

"Remus?" Pete asked, coming to his side with wide eyes. "What is it?"

Remus sighed, cleaning up the filing system from his abrupt search. Pete helped him, though it was clear he was unsatisfied with just a _sigh_ , but Remus wasn't even sure he could articulate what was wrong. His hands were shaking and there was a growing urgency growing in his chest. Worry, fear, distrust, all things he didn't particularly like to feel were rapidly multiplying till it was all he felt.

Once the files were in its original order, Remus turned back to look at the file on the floor, parchments piled beside in a relatively ordered manner. He walked over, Pete right on his heel, and collected all documents, putting them back in the folder in its original order, closing it so it was nothing more than a thin folder. He looked at Pete, who was still alarmed at Remus' reaction, that had not yet been explained.

Remus nodded towards the door and Pete slowly nodded his head in understanding. They walked towards the door, lightly rapping on the wood 4 times before gently opening it a crack.

"All clear."

Remus, who was struggling to keep his breathing shallow, crept out the door, Pete following shortly after, closing the door behind him. James and Sirius got out their wands to start putting the enchantments _back_ on the door, but Remus stopped them, whacking them both on the shoulders with the file. Whether it was the obvious fear in Remus' eyes, or the folder that was _still in his hand_ , Sirius and James looked at each other with wide eyes.

James nodded back to the room, and Remus nodded mutely, opening the door again.

It was Sirius who was last in, shutting the door behind him and casting a silencing spell. Once it was cast, he was the first to speak.

"What the hell Moony?" Sirius whispered with urgency, though he needn't have to, considering the protection and silence charms were still active. They were all clearly on edge from Remus' odd reaction, and he thought it was just as well. "The plan was to look at the file _put the file_ and charms back up, go back to the dorm and discuss what you read. We shouldn't all be in here!"

"We have a problem." Remus said simply, his eyes stuck on the file he held.

" _Other than still being in Mcgonagall's office?"_

" _Well its obviously something to do with the file!"_

" _It's bad isn't it?"_

" _Remus?"_

" _Oh godric, she's a spy isnt she? A spy for you-know-who? I've been hearing whispers all year that they have been recruiting Slytherins. -slimy bastards-, and well… i stupidly thought Gryffindors would be safe. I'll never forgive myself if i accidentally snog-"_

" _Oh shutup Sirius, Charlotte is not a spy, if anything she would be fighting for dumbl-"_

"Shut up _both of you._ We have a _big_ problem." Remus said again, looking at all of them with wide eyes. All attention was brought back to Remus, who gave slightly widened eyes to Sirius. He winced in return, realising what he'd _almost_ said, in front of James of all people. Remus found it rather typical that Sirius asks him to keep his failed snogging session with Charlotte a secret, and he almost goes ahead and declares it to the one person he wants to keep it from. Remus struggled not to roll his eyes.

"What problem Remus?" James asked, his voice hard as he drew Remus' attention back to him. Remus sighed, and told them everything. He told them about the photos, how they seemed to _follow_ Charlotte, her birth certificate, her letter of invitation to Hogwarts, her tests, her detention slips, which Sirius particularly seemed proud of. He told them about her O.W.L results and her potions exam. He explained it all, in great detail, until he had nothing more to say, and he stopped talking altogether.

"And?" James asked his brows raised laughing in confusion when the silence dragged on like a wet rag. All eyes turned to him, all of them exasperated that James found it in the _slightest_ funny. His smile dropped, recognising he was missing something obviously significant. "What was wrong with that?"

Remus, though petrified, couldn't help the small smile on the edge of his mouth. His friend was so trusting. After all they'd seen, all they knew. All the _doubts._ James still wanted to believe that it was all a misunderstanding.

Remus would be lying if he'd said he didn't share the same sentiment.

"Her fifth year…" Sirius said in a soft voice, his eyes wide.

"What?" James asked, his brows furrowed. Remus could tell he wasn't getting it and it made him wonder _why_. He wasn't slow, and Remus hadn't exactly thrown the crumbs out of reach. If anything, he was pitching bloody loaves at their faces. It should have been obvious. He could tell it was for Sirius and Pete...but not James.

"Her fifth year, there wasn't anything other than her O.W. L's." Remus explained, holding the folder up for a second, before he dropped his arm

"So? That could just mean she was better behaved that year."

Remus gave him a look, sighing as he shook his head. What would it take for James to believe him. If he just handed him the folder, James would surely reach his own conclusions, but who knows how long that could take.

"James, we had exams throughout the year, the O.W. L's were not the only thing that happened that year. Not to mention her yearly assessment wasn't there, nor _anything_ from her 6th year. This year hasn't been as thrilling as others, but i'm fairly certain we had more than a potions essay for the entirety of 12 months. She either WASN'T at school, or the school has no RECORD of her."

"Shit." James said eventually, running both hands through his hair as he thought it over in his head. His eyes widened, and then they closed with a painful wince. " _Shit."_

Remus couldn't name it, but whatever it was that had made James finally reach his conclusion, it was bittersweet. Though he'd like to tread softly around the topic, there was an undeniable well of fear that was growing in him, that wouldn't go away, and that unfortunately took precedence over James' feelings for the moment.

Even if he could see that James was struggling with it all, he would need his full attention and focus if they had any chance of working out just _who_ the bloody hell Charlotte Amaralyss Evans is. Because it now didn't just affect James' relationship with Lily. It affected all of them.

"I said it before, and i meant it. We have a _big_ problem."

They just had to work out what that meant.

* * *

 **A/N**

Oh gosh. I'm hiding in shame right now.

This chapter took sooooo long to upload. I'm genuinely so sorry. There were different points in the last 2-3 months where I have simply had **no** inspiration to write anything. I just wanted to read. Then, when I finally **did** want to write, I was too busy with work to do anything more than a paragraph at a time. Godric knows my chapters are more than a few paragraphs!

I'm currently at that point in my life where everything is completely unsatisfying. I can't stand work. I can't stand being at home. I can't stand being around my friends - so I lose them. Everything is just a shitfest, so I have been reading. A lot. Don't get me wrong, I love reading, but the lines blur, and suddenly I'm up at 3am reading some random fan fiction that isn't _that_ good, because I don't want to sleep and it be tomorrow.

Anyway, let's ignore that pity party!

So yeah, they have her file, Charlie thinks Jamesey's ass is mighty fine. GASP. Trust me, all very relevant. Even James' ass. Especially James' ass ;)

Hope you liked the chapter. Review/follow/favourite. Or don't… Whatever floats your boat

Thanks kidlets xx


	22. Chapter 22

" _All it takes is one bad day to reduce the sanest man alive to lunacy._

 _That's how far the world is from where I am. Just one bad day."_

 **Chapter 22**

* * *

 **(~Charlotte~)**

Whether it be her nerves, her distinct lack of sleep or by truth, Charlotte felt James' eyes watching as she sat down. Though, as she looked over, his eyes weren't watching her sit at all. Perhaps 'sat' was a bit too delicate for how Charlotte chose to join james at the small table in the common room, the same table she and Lily often used for study. She'd thrown her bag on the table and if it wasn't for James' quick reflexes, his tea would be all over the both of them. He didn't even seem remotely fazed. Once she sat down, he'd just put the cup back down, and went on reading his book.

She couldn't help the question floating around her mind as she watched him, _since when did James read of his own accord?_ Charlotte leaned forward to try and capture the topic of whatever seemed to be so bloody interesting. _Quidditch_. Oh brilliant. She could be butt naked and he wouldn't even notice. She swung back into her chair with a puff, as though he were the sole purpose for her troubles.

 _Technically_ he was. Though it wasn't exactly his fault.

She found him attractive and…. Quite impossibly… she found herself _attracted to him_. After spending hours pacing, pondering and muttering barely coherently formed sentences, she had sat on the corner of the bed, head in her hands and made the disturbing acceptance that she had a crush on James. A crush on James freakin Potter. No matter how hard she tried to tell herself that being attracted to him didn't , _couldn't_ , mean anything...she also knew that she didn't feel the tightness in her chest when she saw Sirius. He had the undeniable talent to make her blush, but it was generally in embarrassment. James however, made her blush without consent or consequence.

Charlotte figured she had two options. She could, regretfully, distance herself from James. The feelings would slip away and, if allowed, she could attempt to reconcile their friendship after all traces of her crush were gone. _Or,_ she could ignore it. James fancied Lily, giving her the undeniable assurance that nothing remotely romantic was going on between them. Everyone had a crush on someone at one point in their early years, it just happened to hit Charlotte a tad later than all her other peers. He was her first real friend, and he was pretty. The bloody idiot had a way with words and dimples. Simple indentations that had her feeling heavy and smiling, without reason. He was smart, kind and had, on more than one occasion, gone out of his way to make her feel better.

Well, Charlotte had groaned at that. Falling backwards so her arms were splayed outwards, and her eyes met the ceiling of her dorm room. They followed along the lines and curls of the artworks above her, absently trying to reason all her thoughts away.

It wasn't long after she had made the decision to simply ignore the silly little crush. It definitely wasn't worth ruining a friendship, and she had a suspicious feeling that if she lost her friendship with James, she would lose it with the rest. Perhaps not Sirius, but certainly Remus and Pete. _Not that there was really a friendship present anyway_. Ignoring her feelings would hopefully result in them slowly fading away into nothing, leaving behind only _friendly_ intentions.

It was more how she would be going about that which worried her.

She tried not to internally groan as she looked across the table to see James still concentrated on his book. His brows were scrunched together and drawn into a tight line. He was also biting his lip, rather hard too. She couldn't really imagine what he could possibly be reading to cause such a reaction. Then again, as she thought on the night a few months ago where James raved on and on about his chosen pastime, she wasn't nearly as _passionate_ about Quidditch as he was. _Shame he was biting it so hard,_ Charlotte thought, looking at the way his teeth dragged along. He had really smooth lips and it would definitely…

 _Smooth lips?_

Charlotte groaned and slammed her head onto the table, eliciting a small gasp of surprise from the hazel eyed boy across from her. It didn't hurt as much as it sounded, and really, it did nothing to the already throbbing headache she had had since she woke that morning. The _sane_ thing to do in a situation like this, would be to act naturally around him. Act as though he was just her mate. Afterall, James was first and foremost her friend and if she buggered it all up because of a bloody _crush_ , she might just go insane.

Turning her head so her right cheek was resting on the wood, she watched as students lounged around, studied and bustled to get ready for their late night class. Watching them all move about like that, in such a disorganised mess all whilst they all seemed to end up where they intended, gave her a quiet peace she didn't know was possible by simply watching people. Her heart wasn't erratically beating anymore, and whatever annoyance that was building, had surely disappeared.

Even if she was feeling better in the moment, she still had the small issue of having a crush on her friend.

She'd never been in a situation like this, what did one do to try and rid themselves of such a small _silly_ thing? It wasn't like she could exactly _ask_ anyone. Lily would likely guess who she was talking about, and charlotte didn't want to even think about the outcome of that occurring. She couldn't be sure what Sirius would do, or how he would react, but she'd rather not go to him about it anyhow. Something about going to the prat who stole her first kiss, about her first crush, seemed a little odd.

Well, until Charlotte knew _how_ to get rid of any feelings, she had to act as normal as possible. She could handle having a crush, however if James EVER found out, she might just be mortified enough to jump into the black lake and never come out. Then, whatever friendship they'd struck up would go down faster and harder than ~

Charlotte was sure she could do it, quite easily too. Just act normal. Don't stare, _particularly at his ass._ Don't say anything stupid, at least, nothing stupid she wouldn't normally say. As long as she acted as she usually would, James _or anyone else for that matter_ , would have no reason to even think that Charlotte had any feelings for James.

Good plan in theory.

With a sigh, she sat up from the table, rubbing her cheek absentmindedly. She thought she'd seen James look at her in her peripheral vision, but he was still pretty stuck in that bloody book. She was, perhaps, a little miffed that he hadn't said anything since she'd sat down. After all, they were friends. Shouldn't he of said hello? Or at least acknowledged her presence, if not wondered why she'd slammed her head on the table before groaning and muttering to herself.

Maybe he was annoyed at her…

Perhaps he knew…

 _No, don't be ridiculous_. Charlotte coughed out a scoff, shaking her head with a weak laugh. There was no _possible_ way James could know. She only just found out herself that she had a little crush on him what… 2 nights ago? She'd been too mortified to even look at him in class for the past few days, and spent almost, if not all, her time with Lily and Alice.

Alice had been surprisingly warmer as of late, and Lily not as reprimanding. It was a rather nice change, and if she wasn't having other _problems_ , she might even revel in the comfortable change of her little friend group. As it were, she had a bloody Quidditch captain in her thoughts to distract her. Not only from Alice and Lily, but also her studies.

She sighed again, and grabbed her bag to pull out a book, seeing as **someone else** didn't feel the need to be social. She pulled a spare book out, followed by a quill. As she put her bag to the floor, she caught James' eyes for a momentary moment as he looked away from his book. The uncomfortable feeling built in her chest as she looked at him looking at her. She noted his eye colour, the way he wasn't exactly _smiling_ , but his lips were quirked. His hair fell in his eyes, and he looked away from her as he brushed his hair back. _And there was his dimples._

Well, her hands tightened as a feeling, a feeling she'd come to recognise, built in her chest to the point where she felt weighed down.

"What the bloody hell are you looking at?" Charlotte all but snapped at a surprised James. She didn't even have a chance to regret what she'd said.

 _What happened to acting normally?_ Her mind mocked, wanting to kick herself for her lack of cool demeanour.

"Bloody hell woman, I just _glanced_ at you." James gritted back, his brows lowered as he held the book down for a moment. Her brows rose slightly at his tone, noting he was 1. Annoyed (though understandably so, considering her odd and abrupt outburst) and 2. A lot more annoyed than he should have been by her small comment.

It was suddenly blisteringly obvious that he had actually been already miffed before she came over. It explained his cool attitude, why he hadn't said hello. Why the book he was reading rose centimetre by centimetre until Charlotte couldn't even see his eyes anymore and why he was a _hell_ of a lot more annoyed than he should have been. Usually, Charlotte would have thought he'd be surprised, alarmed, concerned or even humoured by her outburst. Jumping straight to annoyance wasn't James.

It also made it obvious, that his attitude, and his forlorn annoyance, was directed towards her.

"Well don't," Charlotte said back, short and stiff as she glared at him. And Godric damn him, he actually _pouted._ She'd seen him pout before. Hell, he did it more than Sirius seemed to wink. This time, like all the others, she noted how well he portrayed a small puppy who was just kicked by his owner. Cute. Unlike all the other times, instead of being annoyed or humoured at his ridiculous expressions, she was _angry._ She didn't _want_ to feel whatever she felt for him. It'd simply mess everything up. Why did he have to do things like this? Why'd he have to make her smile.

Annoying prat couldn't even hold off looking cute for 5 minutes?

"Fine, I won't." He grumbled, crossing his arms and as he looked away. Her lips opened and closed a fair few times, as she watched him stare off in the opposite direction, his book apparently forgotten for a moment as it laid abandoned on the table.

"Good." was her eventual response. No more than a grunt really, as she glared at him. He turned to her with wide exasperated eyes, and it had her pausing for a moment to wonder just _who'd_ managed to confund him into being such a pain in her ass.

"Great." James countered, throwing his hands up in defeat with a roll of his eyes. What was this sodding boy looking for.

"FANTASTIC." Charlotte screeched, swinging around and storming from the common room, distinctly aware that every eye was not only trained on her, but half were laughing. Amused by the entertainment for the week.

" _Oh well done Lottie."_ Charlotte mumbled, storming her way through the hall, almost knocking into a pair of 2 second years. " _Act natural. Good one."_

Before she completely left the familiarity of the Gryffindor common room, she ensured she peeked over her shoulder with the assurance that she was _only_ doing it because she wanted to glare at him one more time.

Alas, he wasn't reading his book, nor had he left the room as she had. He was sitting at that same table, hunched over with his head resting in his hands. She paused, brow creasing immediately. Charlotte watched as he picked up his book, frustration clear on his face as he swiped his hand, picking up his robes on his way to the dorms. He was stopped twice, both by quidditch teammates. James brushed them both off, the second being a fourth year who honestly looked like she was about to cry.

She watched him until he trudged up the stairs and was gone from her sights.

Charlotte sighed, gripping the bridge of her nose for a moment as her eyes floated back to where they'd been sitting. Was she imagining it? Was it just a part of her tired subconscious getting back at her for endless nights of study with no reprieve? Perhaps she had misjudged their entire encounter.

"Scuse me," a seventh year muttered, brushing past Charlotte. A few trailed after and Charlotte muttered a quiet apology, stepping out of the doorway and out of the common room all together, tripping on her robes at least twice as she went. She didn't know where she was headed, but she just felt like…walking.

 _Surely it wasn't just her._ She found herself running her hand along the bricked wall as she walked through the corridors. The past few days, she had noticed that her friends had been withdrawn and it managed to dance quite lovingly on her insecurities.

It had started when she'd gone to Remus for some help with charms class. She was a little embarrassed to be asking for his help, as she'd never really sought him out before. Which, obviously, made her feel guilty. So, to say she was nervous walking up to him during breakfast on Monday, would be a bit of an understatement. He'd always been polite and welcoming, and she could see quite blatantly why Lily took such a liking to him.

She hadn't gotten within 10 metres of where Remus was eating, and reading a novel, before his eyes travelled her way, and instantly widened. She paused in her gait, shock spiralling within her as she recognised the flicker of almost _fear_ that had him dropping his sandwich and walking from the great hall, on the other side of the large table, almost twice as fast as Charlotte had walked in.

Charlotte blinked, twice, then moved to sit at the nearest free section of the Gryffindor table. Grabbing some food and a drink, she ignored the hurt that was undoubtedly distracting her. Clearing her throat, she pulled her charms book from her bag and read over her notes, and the textbook once more.

Still, none of it made sense, and she was now more distracted than before.

Perhaps he was looking at something else? She couldn't really think of a reason that would have him act so oddly. If anything, it only got weirder from there on out. She was almost certain that she was being watched, and it had her with one eye over her shoulder constantly. Every corner she took; she swore someone ran about the next.

Lily thought she was crazy, and seriously lacking sleep. Charlotte could agree with the latter. Every time her head hit a pillow, her mind seemed to awaken. Hesitantly the next morning, she'd managed to bring up Remus in conversation. It had Lily stopping mid bite, and Charlotte smirking. If Charlotte hadn't known any better, she'd be quite sure that Lily fancied Remus. Unfortunately, she did know her better. Remus was one of her best friends, and she doubted her sister would ever feel for him otherwise.

Didn't stop her from teasing Lily about it though.

Eventually, Lily did mention that Remus had also brought Charlotte up in conversation. Nothing too serious, and she'd barely thought on it till Charlotte had mentioned Remus. Her suspicions were quieted by Lily's annoyed assurance that Remus wasn't upset, annoyed or angry at her.

Perhaps he wasn't. Perhaps none of them were. Perhaps Charlotte was being just a little paranoid.

* * *

Lily was giving her that look. The look that both Evan's girls managed to inherit from their mother. Charlotte was sure Petunia also shared the expression, though she'd never _offend_ her dear sister by suggesting they shared anything. All three Evan's women…Well, four if you counted their mother, had a look that managed to say perfectly, without words, _are you kidding me_. She'd more often than not used that look on _Lily._ It was rare that the situation was reversed and Charlotte found herself the offender of it.

Though, considering what she was asking of Lily, perhaps it wasn't that surprising at all.

She winced, sitting a little straighter on her bed. Lily watched her every move, calculating eyes that didn't miss a single signal Charlotte accidentally gave off. If she wasn't so desperate for this to work, she'd be utterly horrified. It was probably even worse that Alice was here to experience it all along with Lily. She knew that Lily trusted Alice almost completely but it still managed to surprise Charlotte just to what extent. She didn't trust James and Sirius half as much.

Charlotte cleared her throat, and avoided Lily's eyes, choosing instead to take apart the corner of her throw blanket. _Red_ throw blanket of course. Charlotte smirked, then shook her head, focusing again. "I'm just asking you to consider it," she intoned carefully, with a careless little shrug. She was trying to play it off as though it were nothing, but Charlotte had never been awfully good at acting, _or lying_ , so she would not be at all surprised to find that look on Lily's face again. "What's the worst that could happen?"

"Swearing, a lot of swearing. A few curses, maybe even a fist fight." Lily didn't miss a beat, and though she was obviously being sarcastic, she wasn't smiling. For Charlotte, that was a bad sign.

"It's not a good idea." Alice amended, a wide smile and wink in Lily's direction. Alice and Lily went back to what they were doing before Charlotte had interrupted, _studying._ Something _she_ should be doing. Every time she sat down with a quill and roll of parchment, her brain simply stopped thinking about what it should be focusing on, and focused on something (rather _someone_ ) else entirely. It was driving her up the wall. If things didn't change soon, she might just go barmy.

"You don't have to fancy the sodding boy, I'm just asking you talk to him like a _person_ ," Charlotte pleaded, sliding to the edge of her bed and gaining only Alice's attention. She seemed to consider what Charlotte said, and showed the smallest lift of a smile. If Lily had any opinion over the matter, she certainly didn't show it. "You treat him like utter piss when he doesn't deserve it, at least not all the time."

Alice muttered her agreement, and Lily turned to glare at her friend, who only shrugged in return. Lily knew that Alice didn't find James all that bad and had, herself, asked more than once that she go a little easier on James. Generally, it followed by James doing something that only reinforced Lily's opinion of him.

Lily obviously remembered this, as she turned her frustrated glare to Charlotte asking with exasperation "Why are you asking me this?"

"Are you surprised?" Charlotte rebutted, raising a brow.

"No...but I have a feeling you'd get more out of his than I would? Charlotte, has he put you up to this?"

"Course not." Charlotte sighed leaning against one of her bed posts. Had this really been such a bad idea? Truthfully, she was running on several nights of half sleep, but she'd thought she was coherent enough. She supposed, _really thinking about it_ , that going to Lily and asking her about something she had _strictly_ said she wouldn't ask, didn't exactly show sound of mind. Her head fell in her hands as she sighed again.

What was happening to her. She wasn't the kind of person who begged for help. She'd never felt a loss when she wasn't spoken to by a boy for a few days, _or at all_. Why was bloody James Potter so different? What was so special about Sirius Black that had her heart breaking when they ignored her in class, when they avoided her at meals.

She… _enjoyed_ their company. There was no doubt in that. She enjoyed being around people who genuinely liked her. And they did… genuinely like her…she hoped. She almost laughed realising things had been so much simpler when she had no friends.

"Mm, maybe not…" Lily said, unaware of her sister's slow deflation. Charlotte's eyes travelled over to Lily, realising she suddenly had her sister's attention again…and Alice's. They were both sitting facing her, expressions of consideration. "but there is something going on."

It wasn't a question, and Charlotte knew it. Lily knew it and Alice apparently did as well.

Charlotte sighed, looking at her nails as she said, "He's not talking to me. _They_ aren't talking to me. I…" Her eyes flickered up, and she still had their rapt attention. She grimaced, not really wanting to divulge all this with her sister and her sisters best friend. Godric, she sounded like a whiny 12-year-old complaining about a boy not noticing her. "I don't know what I did."

She felt her head fall back into her hands, a dry laugh escaping her lips. She use to make fun of Lily for this sort of rubbish, mocking her when she talked about fighting with Severus or Remus, James' annoying attempts at flirtation and her several attempts at a relationship with a few ravenclaws, a hufflepuff and even a muggle. She'd heard it all, rising her head with a sense of superiority that didn't even exist and now the situations were reversed, and she felt pathetic.

"Is that all?" Charlotte nodded, slowly and without glancing at her sister. She lifted her head and met Lily's eyes, an inscrutable expression growing in her green depths. Alice also realised something, as she sat up a little more and watched Lily with something akin to surprise.

Lily closed her book and slid of the bed, taking to pacing across their short dorm room as she held her chin with one hand and supported that arm with the other. For a moment, Charlotte looked over to Alice, and if her wide eyes were any indication, Charlotte help a small, tiny sliver of pathetic hope that Lily might actually be considering it.

"I make no promises. But..." Lily muttered, taking a moment to pause her gait and give Charlotte a firm stare. She stared at her sister with odd conviction, as though she herself was wondering if she was _really_ going to do this. Charlotte was just as shocked as Alice by this point. She'd never thought Lily would agree, not when Lily herself did exactly receive anything in return. " i will act more...civilly…to the idiot."

And she did. Charlotte watched it from a distance, knowing for some unknown reason James had taken her distance from _her_ and likely wouldn't

welcome her company for the moment. Lily wasn't any different to how she usually was. She simply treated him the way she treated the rest of their peers. With decency.

She didn't glare at him from a distance, or cry bloody murder when he bumped into her in the corridor. She'd even offered him a smile, once or twice. Charlotte never stuck around long enough to see James' reaction, knowing well that at the least he might be suspicious and the most, ecstatic.

She just hoped it was enough.

* * *

 _Several days later..._

A resounding bell had sounded throughout the grounds of the castle, signalling students and teachers that they could now move on to their next class. Students milled about the corridors, blocking pathways as they stopped in their gait to discuss school work or the latest release of the daily prophet. There was a general hum that could be heard throughout every section of the castle, slightly lessened by the disappearance of the Seventh years who, no doubt, were likely holed up in their dorms studying, or madly dashing through the library in a last ditch effort to retain whatever knowledge they could before their N.E.W.T.S

Charlotte felt herself trailing behind it all, watchful, but in no way a part of the flurry. Not that she really wanted to be. She had more than enough on her mind already, and couldn't imagine the weight of also having to comply in all the social activities that seemed unimaginably intertwined within it all. No, Charlotte was sure she was far better off how she was now. Seeing her friends on occasion, with the priority being her study and becoming an animagus.

The thought made her cut short a moment, disappointedly missing her stepping off point on the staircase, which moved on its own away from the 4th floor. She sighed, knowing she would now have to go the longer way, but thought more on the realisation that had suddenly dawned on her.

When exactly was the last time she and James done anything remotely on animagus _or_ her patronus? (which she still couldn't cast). They had been working on the potion in the girls lavatory, then they'd had an awkward disagreement. She didn't even know what had happened to the potion and wouldn't be surprised to find it bubbling all sorts of horrendous smells.

Charlotte also hadn't done a thing to help him with Lily, well… except for her pathetic plea to her sister.

So much for their 'deal'.

Charlotte pondered on her thoughts until she was seated at a table in history of magic. She was momentarily distracted, as Sirius and Pete walked in, their heads bent down slightly in deep unwavering conversation that wasn't even stopped as they walked around and through different desks to get to the right of the room, sitting in chairs and tables beside each other, leaning across the aisle to continue their discussion.

They paused what they were saying whenever anyone happened to walk by, and continued the moment they were out of earshot. Whatever it was that managed to capture their attention so well, was clearly not for everyone's ears.

Charlotte was curious, but tried not to act that way. Afterall, she'd barely spoken to Sirius as of late, and she hardly knew Pete well enough to ask him anything of great importance. She pretended to keep herself content with her textbook and wand, casually flipping the page and skimming her eyes over the words, silently thankful neither boys had realised they'd sat right in front of her.

James and Remus eventually joined them, sitting more to the front. James turned to tell Sirius something, and Charlotte smiled slightly, catching his eye. His eyes flittered away and her brows lowered, her own eyes drifting back to her book, trying desperately to bury her dissapointment.

"Sirius." Charlotte whispered, leaning over her desk slightly. He didn't so much as flinch at the sound of his name and it had her tilting her head in confusion. James, she could understand. They'd had some weird fights over the last few weeks, and she had expected some...awkwardness? But Sirius had generally been a constant in her life for the better half of the last few months.. There was that awkward kiss that neither mentioned and she hoped they wouldn't ever again, but aside from that...they were still on good terms. Or at least, she'd thought that.

Unless she'd _also_ managed to annoy him.

Clearing her throat, and checking her professor was well occupied she tried once more."Sirius." A little louder this time and closer, almost pushing her desk over in order to get within a few inches of the boy Again, there had been no indication he heard her. That couldn't have been right.

Mags, a 6th year Ravenclaw, turner in her seat slightly and silently asked, with her brow lowered and her brown eyes sharp for Charlotte to be quiet. She was quite sure they weren't the words that Mags had been thinking. That particular ravenclaw was renowned for her gutter mouth, and whenever out of earshot of a teacher, was quite liberal with her language. Living proof that not all Ravenclaws were witty with their language.

Ignoring the glare to her right, she leaned forward and flicked his ear. She watched silently as his shoulders bunched up in a flinch, but didn't so much as shake his head slightly and return his attention to the front.

Charlotte found herself glaring at his black hair, wondering if she would manage to get his attention by cutting a large lock of it off and dangling it in front of his eyes.

Whatever came over her in the next moment she'd have to ponder later, when her eyes weren't so hard and her face turning slightly purple in anger. He was either ignoring her on purpose, in which case she was rightfully pissed or he was unknowingly ignoring her presence, which was the emotion she chose to act on as she stood up suddenly, her chair screeching behind her as she slammed her hands on her desk.

"SIRIUS BLOODY BLACK." The entirety of the class turned to her, startled and alarmed. The last of which seemed to be the individual in question. He turned slowly, his eyes slightly hooded by his furrowed brows as he turned to glare at her. She opened her mouth to say something more, but was stopped by her professor arriving beside Sirius' desk with a surprisingly alarmed expression on his face. It wasn't really all that often anyone got a rouse out of the ghost, and she would have been half impressed if it wasn't herself his expression was directed at.

"Miss! I would ask you not to cry out so indignantly in my class!" Charlotte's eyes flittered around the classroom at the murmuring and snickering from the Ravenclaws and Gryffindors, mostly in that order. Her cheeks flooded with heat as she took in Lily at the very front, shaking her head as she turned away. Sirius had also turned back around and was leaning heavily back in his chair. James was watching her with an unreadable expression, also turning to look back at the front of the classroom. "Out, out now. You can go see professor…" He looked at her robes and taking in her Gryffindor tie decided with a firm nod. "Mcgonagall. Once she is out of class."

Charlotte didn't bother arguing, she just stacked her books, put them in her bag, ensuring she knocked them harshly against Sirius' shoulder on her way past. If guilt trailed behind her, she ignored it. Just as she did for the scuffled laughter of the students around her, choosing instead to set her eyes on the door ahead, lest they stray to her disappointed, albeit shocked, sister.

As she walked out of the classroom and made her way to Gryffindor tower, knowing from experience that Professor Binns would forget about her outburst before the end of the lesson anyway, she tried not to dwell on the storm of feelings building in her chest. Some of them, she couldn't even name. She just recognised an uncomfortable itching sensation in her chest. Fear.

She knew she was annoyed at Sirius, embarrassed at yelling mid-class, stressed about her upcoming exams and tired from lack of sleep. Then there was the dormant fear… She'd have to tuck that one under the rest. It'd only create more of a distraction, and was less than helpful in any situation. She'd be best focusing on her anger.

Charlotte stepped through the common room, feet heavy and brows lowered in a stiff line. The Seventh years, though few in numbers, cluttered the common room, and a few turned to look at her in surprise, no doubt surprised and jumpy from her loud entrance, and curious as to why a student was lingering around the halls during class time. If any of them were more than a little curious, they didn't show it, as Charlotte was able to make her way to her dorm without a single word being said to her.

She didn't spend her spare time in idle distraction, instead using the time to read through Lily's potions notes she had thought to copy. Her wand, being co-operative of late, made no fuss as she'd used the gemino curse on all but her transfiguration and divination work, which they both knew, were subjects where Lily suffered.

For only having a week or two of study, Charlotte had a quiet confidence that she wouldn't do half bad. It wasn't as though she had slacked around the entire year. But she could honestly say that, between the alcohol, which was the least of her problems lately, general distaste for being in the same room as Lily and all the eventful moments she'd managed to obtain since the morning she'd met James Potter, she very well _should_ fail.

* * *

The next morning, Lily had woken her with a gentle shove of her shoulder, informing her that classes would be starting soon. Charlotte had bit something back about her wake up call being preferably BEFORE breakfast was over, but it was half-hearted being that she was grateful she had been woken up at all. It wasn't often her sister was helpful, and she wouldn't want to put Lily's good mood to waste.

Lily left the dorm to Charlotte and, having no time for a shower, Charlotte scorgified herself, biting back a hiss of pain. The charm always made her skin feel raw when her wand was acting up, and this morning appeared to be a bad day to be using magic. That took all hope away from her plan of attempting her patronus later that day.

When she finally arrived in charms class, she was at least 20 minutes late, but thankfully the class were exorbitantly entertained by Professor Flitwick casting a silencing charm on a shrieking hawk that didn't seem to shut up till the spell was cast.. Charlotte settled into a table, getting a few heated glares from the Slytherins she happened to be sitting across from.

 _Fucking slytherins._

Ignoring their eyes, she looked around and found James sprawled on his table, half asleep in the back corner of the room. His eyes were trained on something in the distance and she wasn't too sure that an encendio to his backside would have woken him up from his daydreaming.

She would have smiled, if the bite of the past few days hadn't been lingering so heavily on her mind. She noted Sirius and Pete also seemed to be barely conscious, leaning against each other as they watched the professor with hooded eyes. Remus was absent, and as she looked around, she realised he was absent from the class, not just their little bubble. Idiots had obviously been up late.

Returning her eyes to the professor for a moment, as he made an attempt to gain the class' attention once more, she couldn't help but ponder a great many things. Why had things suddenly changed? What were they doing up late at night? Where was Remus? Why had James and Sirius suddenly taken to reading during lunch and dinner. It had surprised her enough to see James in a book, more than once and not just on Quidditch but to see Sirius, it was bizarre. Most importantly, why were they ignoring and avoiding her at all costs.

After class, she took after James. He was still rubbing the sleep from his eyes when they met hers as she came by his side.

"Alright there?" Charlotte asked, humour leaking into her words as she saw the way he sluggishly dragged his feet across the cobblestones, his robes half on, half off his shoulders.

He blinked a few times then sighed, shrugging his shoulders as he looked away and trudged on. Charlotte frowned and doubled her pace to catch up with him, all whilst trying to capture his eyes.

She attempted small talk something, mind you, she detested. To no avail, all James did was make sounds of recognition. She could have gone on and simply assumed he was tired and wasn't able to make simple social communication, but the idiot was a blabbermouth at the worst of times, and she'd be stupid to think for a moment that his mood wasn't predetermined by some sort of agenda.

"So, I may have an idea with the whole Lily thing," Charlotte allowed tentatively, noting his gait didn't stop, nor even paused for a moment. She waited for a few seconds for anything, a mumble or mutter, but they just continued walking through the halls, she didn't even know where to. "Nothing...nothing at all? Are you suddenly deaf?" She hadn't meant to snap.

He paused, glared and continued on his way.

"So, not deaf...just ignoring me? Charming James. What exactly are you ignoring me for?" But he continued to not say a word, turning the corner. Charlotte hurried after, her nose flared and her eyes narrowed to angular slits. She bumped into someone around the corner, but she didn't bother to apologise, just continuing to chase James.

"You were ignoring me the other day too, when i sat with you in the dorms? Sirius is also ignoring me. Pete is glaring at me and i could have sworn Remus was-" Charlotte cut herself off when James' eyes met hers for a moment, and she found she couldn't quite mutter what she'd seen in the sandy haired boy. Could she really call it fear? Wariness, definitely, and mingled curiosity with annoyance that seemed lingered by an unanswered question.

"What have i done?" Charlotte asked honestly. James was still walking, and she grabbed ahold of his wrist, tugging on him until he turned. His eyes were shrouded, almost cold. She let go of his wrist, asking again, " _What have i done?_ "

He ran both hands through his hair slowly, his eyes closed. He let them swing by his sides, as his eyes _finally_ looked at her with some amount of concentration. Her eyes flickered between his, waiting.

"I'm not _ignoring_ you. I'm tired, you're annoying me and I need to get to class," he said, eyes hard as stone. "Now, if you don't mind?" James raised his brows, expectantly, and all Charlotte could do at the time was take a step back, watching him walk away. He'd rendered her speechless.

Charlotte's next encounter with James showed a greater deal of confidence on her part. She knew that James was ignoring her. Why, she couldn't tell, but she was bloody sick of it.

She would never admit it, least of all to Lily, but she waiting outside the boys dorms for a full few hours until she was certain only James remained in his room. She knew what she was doing, waiting till she caught him alone, was a bit odd, peculiar...creepy, she just wasn't sure what else there was that she could do, par strapping him to a chair and forcing veritaserum down his throat until he told her what his problem was. That'd just be disturbing.

Once Pete had at last left the common room, she took the stairs two at a time. James was just on his way out of the dorm when she'd stepped up to it and practically pushed open the door (and him back in the process), slamming it behind her. She couldn't lock the darn thing because it wasn't her door, but she leaned on it with her arms crossed as she glared at a startled James.

"You bloody mad?" He asked, stepping forward. He made a few motions with his hands, an obvious attempt to get her to move without requesting it or by physical action, however all Charlotte did was watch him. " _Evans_ , move."

Charlotte felt her eyes widen and she laughed without humour. Disbelief was coursing through her, and she tried her best not to show it, but she'd always been hopeless covering up her emotions when she _really_ needed to.

"Come now _Potter_ , I just wanted a friendly chat." Charlotte said, smirking darkly. She couldn't help the anger, annoyance, sadness and every other feeling she didn't want that coursed through her. She channelled it all, remembering why she was here. Hash it all out, and clean it up. Make things go back to the way they were before, no matter the cost. A bit of an unhealthy goal, but it was short lived.

She felt a speck of satisfaction when he flinched at his last name. He obviously hadn't expected her to treat him like he had been treating her. Cold and distant. Charlotte almost laughed at that. James should've known this was a 2 way street. He wasn't dealing with Lily who was astounded when others didn't treat her like the angel she was.

"And I thought we decided you were only going to call your girlfriend that?" Charlotte hissed, glaring at him. He made no indication that her words meant anything to him at all.

"Friendly chat huh?" James muttered, stepping back and sitting on the edge of one of the beds. He ran his hands through his hair, adjusted his glasses and nodded his head, awaiting what he assumed was an onslaught of questions, accusations and rambling. "Well, go on then."

Charlotte glared, her annoyance clear, however she wasn't going to let the opportunity slip away from her. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair, only for it to be caught halfway, meaning she had to tear her fingers from her hair harshly. Muttering obscenities at her hair, she failed to notice the amused half smile on James' face, nor how it dropped with a shake of his head almost immediately as Charlotte looked over.

"I'm not one for…" Charlotte began slowly, pausing when James met her eyes. "Well, for gushy meaningful chats." If James agreed with her, he didn't show it. He just stared at her with bland hazel eyes. "Whatever has gotten you into such a pissy mood that you run off like a little girl whenever you see me is getting bloody ridiculous. Whatever you've got shoved up your ass, i suggest dislodging it. I have had a good long think, and i _know_ that i haven't done anything. Even if i have, I'm sure it can't merit the piss-poor mood you have been in."

James' brows had continued to furrow through her monologue, and his mouth opened slightly, preparing to speak. Before he could voice his argument, Charlotte had continued hers.

"Is it because I haven't been the most helpful with Lily? Because I can assure you, I have been doing some serious background work. Do you know how hard it is to try and remove a bad opinion that has been there for years? For good reason half the time." Charlotte paced at the foot of his bed, taking quick little looks at him to ensure he was still listening. "It isn't just you either. Sirius, Remus and Pete are all ignoring me, though I can't say that's very much different for Remus and Pete… but it's completely beside the point. I don't understand what I have done, and your all-"

" _Circe_ Charlotte, take a bloody breath," James said, rolling his eyes. Charlotte paused her gait and looked at him. "You are aware we have tests next week correct? Around 4…no, 3 days away. Have you stopped to think for a moment we are just bloody busy? Why do you have to assume it's about you? Not everything is you know."

" _Busy?"_ Charlotte asked, threateningly as she stalked over to the bed. "You have downright ignored me for the better half of 2 weeks!" Though she'd said it with a fair amount of confidence, she didn't feel as strong as she sounded. What if James was right, and they'd just been busy and she'd been too caught up in her fear that they'd suddenly…No, she'd decided not to think about that. This time was different. They wouldn't forget her.

It still left the sticky question on if this was all just a bloody massive exaggeration on her part. Charlotte winced, hoping that wasn't true.

James saw her hesitation, or…at least he must have, because he was the one suddenly standing, staring down at her as though _she'd_ done something wrong.

"You done now?" He asked sarcastically, tilting his head mockingly. "Got it all out? Feel better about yourself? Well I'm just perfectly chipper that you got that load off your chest Charlotte. Now, if you don't mind, get out of my bloody dorm." He was almost growling by the end, and Charlotte had taken a hesitant step back, her resolve wavering. This isn't how this was supposed to go. _Why was he so angry?_

"Fine," Charlotte said, voice stiff and troubled.

She turned sharply, hand on the door, just above the handle. The hand that had grabbed her forearm and kept her from moving another inch had her frozen. She sighed, slumping her shoulders forward. She was _tired_ and didn't need another scolding. She needed to go study, and focus her thoughts on things that mattered, like her education. She was preparing to give up on this all, the stupid deal that led to unlikely friendships. She needed hard liquor and a distraction.

All the same, as James pulled on her arm slowly, she didn't pull back, all whilst knowing she should. She kept her eyes on the ground, knowing that one look into his hazel eyes, she'd go right back to her desperate pleading.

It was the finger under her chin bringing her head up that finally moved her eyes to his. They flickered quickly from eye to eye before finally settling and Charlotte tried to keep her expression as neutral as possible, knowing well that she likely looked as pathetic as she felt. And James? She couldn't name the expressions that darted across him from one second to the next. Confusion? Anger? Frustration? Sadness?

For a second, a split second, she'd thought he'd moved closer and suddenly her breath was caught in her throat. Charlotte knew that confusion was written on every line of her olive face, but he was either so distracted he couldn't see, or he was ignoring it. She knew she _felt_ confused, but he seemed to be the very definition of it. His brows lowered, eyes tight in concentration. His glasses were slipping of his nose, and all it took was one swoop of his hand to bring them back onto the bridge of his nose and swipe his waves away from his forehead. One swoop and his eyes were on Charlotte's once more.

"Have I got something on my face?" Charlotte asked with a mock scoff that poorly hid how nervous she felt. She felt the fire in her cheeks, and knew it was all too visible. If possible, her question only made James' brows furrow further. "Look, i'm actually…" Her muttering was stopped by the step he took forward, almost forcing her to take a step back and bump into the door. She hadn't been imagining it, he _was_ moving closer. The door she was currently wishing she had managed to open and leave. _What the hell_.

"I'm busy. Got lots of study to do...so i should-" Her eyes were on his lips, and she was _so suddenly aware_ of how close he was. She didn't feel intimidated or worried anymore, she felt warm and that felt _wrong_. "Go"

Were it any other time, she'd have half the thought to punch him on the shoulder, or slap him over the head. But he was _really_ close, and she was becoming hyper aware of those pesky feelings she was attempting to bury deep, _deep_ within her. The problem with burying her feelings, was whenever they arose from the surface, they seemed to have multiplied from wherever they were lying dormant.

So, with her mind frazzled, and her heart racing in her chest, all she could do was watch James with her brows lowered, and her lips in a tight line. At least she didn't _look_ like she was affected by him. _Hopefully._

"Well," James said, a hand on the door just beside her head. "Wouldn't want to distract you from your… _Studies"_ Then he smiled. And it had been the first time he'd been remotely friendly with her in weeks. Her lips cracked, just by a few millimetres, and she found herself smiling back. It dropped when he came closer and she felt her heart quicken tenfold in her chest.

Distantly, she felt a bump at her back and then a shove, and suddenly she was being lurched into James' arms, the both of them stumbling back as the door swung open, slamming against the wall from impact.

Charlotte, still recovering, turned to see Remus stumble into the room, eyes wide and darting about. It became obvious then, to Charlotte at least, that it had been Remus trying to open the door. He'd obviously been struggling with Charlotte's weight being pressed upon it by none other than James, who was currently looking as alarmed as she felt.

"Charlotte?" Remus asked in confusion, watching as Charlotte pushed herself out of James' arms and took a visible step away from him. She had felt James' hands on her waist burn through her woolen jumper, searing her skin, and she could say with all certainty...almost all certainty, that she was glad for the absence of contact. The action however, brought Remus' attention to James, only multiplying his curiosity tenfold. She couldn't fathom what he must be thinking, watching as his best friend blushed angrily, confusion lining his sharp features and Charlotte who… just looked plain embarrassed.

"Have I…" he said, taking a step forward and cleared his throat. "Have I interrupted something?"

His question was unassuming, and the answer obvious. Of course he had interrupted something, and was it relief that seemed to escape with her sigh? She couldn't fathom what was going on in James' head a few moments ago, and looking at him now, she wasn't all too sure he did either. James clearly wasn't going to answer his best friend, and Charlotte had no wish to either.

She said nothing as she side stepped James, quick to drop her eyes when she met his, and made for the door. Remus was still standing in the doorway, frozen in his confusion. She had to put in a bit more effort to move aside from him, as his eyes were caught on James, his lips gaped in shock.

"Err… Remus?" He looked towards her, and she gestured towards the door, the heat in her cheeks still present and burning. Regret was pooling within her stomach, and she wasn't sure what about. Confronting James? Not mending whatever was broken between them? Whatever it was, it sat like a clunky Manticore in the middle of their dorm, and had her wanted to run out of the room as quickly as possible.

"Oh, right!" He said quickly, shuffling forward and almost tripping over his robes in the process. "Of course. Goodbye." Always so polite. No wonder Lily took a special fancy to him.

Charlotte quickly walked out, closing the dorm door behind her. She stood there, a good few seconds before she finally let the breath she didn't know she was holding out of her mouth slowly. She had to shake her head a few times to clear the cobwebs that had formed, just so that she could think clearly.

She realised with a start that her obtainable goal of trying to work out whatever it was that was going on with James had been not so obtainable after all. Her plan had been so simple. Don't leave the dorm till she got a full account on what exactly was going on, even if she had to petrificus totalus his ass to the floor. She'd even thought to practice her full-body binding curse, _just in case._ It all ended in shambles, and she was now incredibly confused.

She had a feeling, one she couldn't shake, that things were now _much_ more complicated.

* * *

 **(~ James ~)**

James exhaled, and felt much needed oxygen refill his lungs. Unfortunately it did nothing for the confusion and pure shock that was running rant through his body. If he looked down, he would have noticed his hands shaking, and had he had a mirror handy, he would know that his cheeks were burning, his pupils were wide and his brows were furrowed so deeply he was sure they'd disappear.

Remus, the ever observant one, probably saw all this and understood it more than he did. He only knew one thing at the moment, he had no bloody idea what just happened.

After picking the map up off his bed, tucking it into his back pocket and preparing to leave the dorm after Pete, he'd been more than surprised to be shoved backwards, and his first action - a reflex really, was to reach into his back pocket for his wand to blast the sod. No one, _no one_ , would just come shoving through the dorms without intent and he was eager for a bit of a dual.

It came as a bit of a shock to see the disheveled form of Charlotte slam the door behind her and glare at him. She was quite a vision. Hair in a messy high bun, eyes wide and dark under the shadows of the dorm light. She was wearing normal clothes, in place of their uniform, and honestly, it is something he would have worn to bed. Loose knit jumper and daggy pants. He wasn't sure she was even wearing any shoes!

Her looks aside, it was her eyes that made him wary. Though they'd always been a dark blue, they were practically black without all the lights on, and the glare she had focused on him made him more than a little worried. This wasn't like when she'd approached him earlier. Before, she'd been desperate, and it had taken all he had in him to stay strong.

He didn't like what they were doing, not at all. It meant that he had to likely sacrifice his friendship with Charlotte in keeping their secret, and Remus' in particular, to themselves. It was just too much of a risk. An uncanny coincidence, is what Pete kept saying, _over_ and _over_. Both he and Remus agreed it couldn't possibly _just_ be a coincidence that their one serious secret that affected their livelyhood's was an attainable goal from a complete stranger that James wondered upon in the library, who just so happened to be the _fraternal twin_ of a girl who they'd all been relatively close to for 6 years.

He understood that, and felt just as disturbed. But what could they do? It was a regular argument in their dorm, and it had them all on edge. They had to look at it from either 2 sides. They would _help_ Charlotte, as, from her explanations, she seemed more a victim of whatever was going on rather than the cause… or they could cut off all ties from her, and attempt to discover what was wrong with her, and her story, to ensure the safety of themselves.

Sirius argued that they could do the second whilst still being her friend, but Remus had made the very valid point that in the short while that they had known her, she'd managed to learn an awful lot about them. She was Lily's twin, _they hoped_ , and had the knowledge to really learn anything she wanted about any of them.

But, what could she possibly want from them? He'd stupidly joked that she was a death-eater spy looking for potential followers… but no one had found it remotely funny, and Padfoot had gone so far as to glare at him darkly.

So what could they do but be cautious? He'd ignored her, constantly. Avoided meeting her eyes, and moved away from her several times when he realised she was coming towards him. Thankfully he hadn't had the unfortunate experience as Sirius had where he'd _blatantly_ ignored her in front of others. He wasn't sure he could do that, after hearing all her fears on being forgotten. He may be a prat at times, but that was just _wrong._ There was so many other ways that that situation could have been handled, and Sirius managed to chose the worst. He'd gone off at Sirius afterwards, and as usual, Remus had to come settle them down.

He played it off well earlier, that it had just been in preparation of their exams that they had seemed to missed out on chances to do anything. Honestly, he hadn't at all though about their deal until she'd mentioned it. He'd been too distracted with worrying about who Charlotte _was_ to consider his relationship with Lily, or Charlotte's study of Animagi. Then there was his mum…

He had fairly often correspondence with his dad the past few weeks, enough to make all his mates suspicious, Sirius especially. He'd gone to tell Sirius multiple times about his mum, but the words were caught in his throat, and he found he didn't really know what to say.

' _Hey Sirius, my mum… who you practically love as your own mum, she's sick. Real sick. Dad doesn't think she's getting better, and is considering moving her to St Mungo's...so yeah."_

It wasn't something he was ready to accept, let alone talk about with someone else. He was sure she would bounce back, his mum always did. The guilt of almost every letter ending with either his mum or dad sending their love to Sirius, made him quite sick at times. He would tell him. Just not yet. He had other things to focus on, and as his mum told him, and he'd happily shared with Sirius and the rest of them, ' _if you don't all pull your heads out, and get them in your books you'll find none of your favourite sweets being cooked for the break. Remus dear, this obviously doesn't include you.'_

Remus had smirked, and avoided the socks being thrown at him from all corners of their dorm. _Smart-arse_.

Before he'd gone to leave his dorm after Pete, he'd had a whole lot going on in his head, and was more than startled to find Charlotte there. She'd been tentative and confused earlier, but now she'd been angry and annoyed. There was a fire burning coals behind her eyes. _Passion_.

 _Evans_. He called her Evans. He meant it as a slight, knowing it'd tick her off and hoping even more it'd make her leave. He felt guilty and regretful that they were ignoring her, and her being there, in front of him, in the dorm, only reinforced it. What had she done in return? Called him _Potter_. Somehow, she'd managed to do to him what he'd failed to do to her.

He'd sat patiently and listened as she yelled at him, much more power in her words than earlier that day. He welcomed her words, knowing as well as anyone that he deserved them. He'd been a right prat, and deserved far more than her harsh words and quick tongue. As she continued her rant, he sighed, realising that, even though he agreed with her, he couldn't let her know that.

So, he'd bit back. Quite effectively shutting her up and crushing any fire that was in her eyes. Godric, he felt terrible.

So he'd stopped her from leaving. He watched her eyes as she turned to him, confused and alarmed. From there, he drew a blank. What happened afterwards were of no conscious effort on his behalf, and he couldn't speak on behalf of his actions. He felt himself drawn forwards, all thoughts of anything else leaving him as he focused completely on the girl before him.

Godric help him, he'd never been more thankful for Remus. Had he not of forcefully opened the door, throwing Charlotte off into his arms, he was afraid of where exactly he was taking things.

Of course, Remus also noticed this, and was quick to look at him with suspicious eyes. "Feel like explaining what I just walked in on?"

He turned from the door, glaring at his friend as he trudged over to his bed, sitting on the edge where his bag was. He made himself busy looking for...something.

"Oh shut it moony. We weren't having _sex._ " This time he'd looked Remus in the eyes as he rolled them with an exasperated expression. Honestly, he'd caught him in far more compromising situations than what he'd just walked in then and had always gone out of his way to make some sort of joke out of it so James suffered as long as possible. With Charlotte's situation and all, there was no way Remus was making a joke out of anything. Not when their worry's were confirmed. Shaking his head, he nodded towards Remus, ignoring the narrowed eyes of his sandy haired friend. "How'd it all go, your chat with Lily?"

He felt almost breathless for a moment, saying her name. Whether or not Charlotte and he were on the best of terms, he'd stuck by what she'd said from the beginning. For the moment, he was ignoring her, and only really spoke to her if she spoke to him first. He was doing his homework and was careful about who and when poked fun of.

What had it all resulted in? A smile.

Something quickened in his chest, and he hoped it was his heart. Remembering the slight curve of her slips as their eyes briefly met was one of the nicest things she'd ever bestowed upon him. She turned around the next moment, but it was enough. He'd sat transfixed on her throughout the entirety of their charms class. If anyone had tried to get his attention, they'd failed quite brilliantly because for 45 blissful minutes, he watched her ruby hair move against her back, her sweet laughter and brilliant mind work on her charms.

He couldn't remember much afterwards, and he was startled out of his state by Charlotte. It wasn't conscious, but his mood was instantly dropped the moment he saw her, knowing what he would have to do. Guilt trailed him the rest of the day, remembering his harsh words. Seeing Lily again at lunch helped loads. She smiled at him _again_. The rest of the day? Bit of a loss remembering anything before arriving in his dorm with Sirius. He blinked his eyes, shook his head and gave a small smile to Remus and Pete. He'd panicked for a moment, realising that he _really_ couldn't remember the last few hours. Then his thoughts were drowned out listening to Sirius tell them what he'd learned from Alice.

" _Found her in the library, studying. She was wearing this really nice sweater that sh-"_

" _Sirius, stay on track please."_

" _Right. Well, i'd asked her how long she'd known Charlotte for, and she said a short while. She couldn't pinpoint a time where she really met her or saw her for the first time or anything. She estimated last year. Apparently she keeps to herself often, studying alone or with Lily. It was only when Lily talked about Charlotte's drinking problem that she really began to see her more."_

" _Drinking problem?! Charlotte has a drinking problem?"_

" _Apparently. I dunno, haven't really seen her drink all that much. In fact, last time was Moony's party. That was ages ago. Anyway, I asked her about the dorms, and even she was curious why only Lily and Charlotte shared a dorm. Not many people, related or unrelated get a dorm with only 2 people."_

" _Is that all Sirius?"_

" _No. She did mention it was odd. Odd how she was one of the brightest in our year but never received recognition from any teachers. Odd that she wasn't targeted for being a muggleborn, which i certainly don't have a problem with. Odd that she's nice, witty and quite funny but doesn't-didn't-don't have any friends."_

" _Alice sounds suspicious."_

" _I think she is, and she has been for a long time. Just hasn't done anything about it because she trusts Lily."_

It had certainly given him something to think on. They'd all decided it was worth investigating, the room allocation that is. Remus was on that one. The rest of them needed to return Charlotte's file, which is what Pete and Sirius had gone to do. Remus had gone to do it whilst they'd been in Charms, but Mcgonagall had left something in her office and had gone to get it last minute. Thankfully he'd had the map. They'd all checked that Charlotte was somewhere they wouldn't run into her, which looked like her dorm according to the map.

James was meant to trail behind them all, ensuring their path was clear. They would have communicated with the parchment Remus had enchanted but unfortunately Pete losing his meant all theirs were compromised. Last he heard, Remus was working on more. For the moment, they all had origami birds, enchanted to flap their wings upon the witch or wizards instruction. 2 flaps for Yes or go, 1 flap for No or stop. It had its problems, but was the fastest thing Remus could put together at the time, and the least suspicious.

He'd just been packing his map into his back pocket when Charlotte had startled him, and honestly, all thoughts of their plan left him the moment he met her eyes.

"Uh, no. I don't think so." James looked up, almost forgetting Remus had been there. He sighed, rubbing his eyes slowly at his mates tone. "You were dangerously close to Charlotte when I came in, in fact I'm almost certain you had her _pressed_ against our bloody door!" James head snapped to Remus' direction, which was changing as he paced across their dorm room. His eyes, wide and startled seemed to confirm Remus' theory. "What happened to keeping our distance?"

His mouth opened and closed for a moment before he realised there was no sense lying to Remus. "Didn't pan out." James said monotonously, his head hanging as Remus sat opposite him on Sirius' bed. Neither said anything for a moment, Remus in deep thought and James not thinking at all.

"Well i can see that." Remus said, soft and with a smile. "Listen, James…i'm not judging you. Not in the slightest. I could tell, from quite early on that you liked Charlotte."

"I don't li-" James cold voice was quick to argue, and Remus was even quicker to clarify, his hands in the air as a sign of peace.

"I didn't say you fancied her, just that you liked her. Nothing wrong with that mate. Both you and Sirius have taken a liking to her and i understand why. She's smart, witty and rather pretty. She clearly has the mysterious vibe going for her."

" _Mysterious vibe?_ Really," James said monotonously. Remus fixed him with a hard stare that had him sighing and running a hand through his hair.

He was very aware he was drifting away from the topic, so was Remus. He knew he was doing it on purpose, as did Remus. He also knew that what just happened bothered him deeply, and Remus seemed to understand that better than he did.

"I'm just saying...be careful." James lifted his brows, corner of his lip in tow.

 _Be careful._ What is he talking about? What could he possibly need to be careful of? James waved him off and sighed, falling back onto his bed. What he wouldn't give to just slip into a peaceful sleep, something he was seriously lacking these past few days. If stressing about his exams wasn't enough, they were all on high alert around around Charlotte. They were constantly discussing, _arguing,_ about what they should do and it only seemed to get worse the longer they kept their current act going.

Then there was his Mum. He knew she would pull through, she always did. That didn't mean, however, that he didn't feel a sickening lurch in his stomach whenever he thought of her being sick. Then there was, of course, Lily who surprisingly was taking a sudden likening to him. _Likening_ was likely too strong a word for a few smiles, but when it came from Lily, it might as well have been a profession of love to James.

To top it all off, Remus' senses were heightened, which could only mean one thing…

"That time again huh?"

Because they didn't have enough problems at the moment.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **I'm back baby**

 **-Nomomom**


	23. Chapter 23

" _ **There is a woman at the beginning of all great things."**_

 _ **~ Alphonse de Lamartine**_

 **Chapter 23.**

* * *

 **(~Charlotte Evans~)**

Godric help her, it was the day before her first exam and she hadn't gotten a single wink of sleep. Though it wasn't exactly surprising considering she hardly slept for more than a few hours at a time these days. It seemed she would lay unperturbed for an hour before dosing off, only to toss and turn till the sun rose once more. Whilst sleep deprived her of her sanity, she spent her time reading, quite fervently and constantly everyday, every moment she wasn't in class.

Well, she'd gotten through a fair few pages of the animagus book, and when she wasn't tirelessly attempting to understand _that_ , she was studying. Potions, Defence against the dark arts, transfiguration, muggle studies, history of magic, care of magical creatures, herbology, astronomy, ancient runes, all in a few days. Thankfully, she had muggle studies first. For a muggleborn, it was a fairly easy class that she didn't find at all difficult. A bit of study on some history, and she was more than ready.

Charlotte sighed, leaning against her bedpost as she numbly watched as Lily wandered about the dorm, dressing in her muggle clothes with a winter robe over the top. She offered Charlotte a cheery goodbye as she left their room, to which Charlotte could only grunt at. If it were any other saturday, Lily would likely be off to Hogsmeade. Be it exam time, she guessed Lily was more likely finding a quiet spot to work on her revision.

Charlotte was exhausted, and struggling quite heavily to stay awake. Thankfully, she had a full day to herself. A full day where she could study. It was her eyes blinking shut that startled her from the headboard.

Dragging a languid hand down her face, she crawled out of bed, barely caring as her books fell to the floor, parchment dancing in the air before falling alongside the bent books. If ink stained her sheets, she didn't notice. Had her whole bloody bed been lit with a silent incendio, she wasn't sure she'd have noticed that either.

And what, seemed to be keeping her up through the night, distracting her heavily from her studies and almost every other task she set her mind on?

She was standing in front of the mirror, looking at her pathetic self for the first time that day. She was wearing the clothes she had been wearing… thursday? A sniff was all it took to know that she needed to clean her clothing. ASAP. Charlotte had dark bruised circles underneath her eyes that seemed to drain the dark blue colour that generally resided from her eyes, giving her a dull-bored appearance. She was white as a sheet, and her long hair was tied into a knot at the nape of her neck in an attempt to keep the waves, which so often tied themselves into puzzling knots, at bay. Her lips seemed in a permanent decline, and her forehead tangled with anxiety.

What she needed was a shower and some sleep...and shears whilst she was at it.

She did all three, if not in a different order. She would have slept first, but knowing how weary she was, the shower never would have come. She was in the bathroom for almost an hour, more than she had ever spent in the shared room. Filing through the draws in the sink's cabinet, Charlotte not only found a pair of hair scissors, but 7 different hair brushes, sorted by head size. She had to wonder how Lily had the time to not only buy 7 different hair brushes, but ensure they remained in order.

Charlotte really shouldn't have been making any sort of important decisions whilst sleep deprived, but she'd never found the state of hair important anyway. With her lips in a grim line, she stared at her appearance in the mirror, and the way her waves managed to knot at her shoulders. She held the scissors up near her hair, almost threateningly. She took another glance at her hair, and sighed, putting the scissors back in the draw. She instead brushed out all the knots and braided her hair back so it sat behind her, halfway down her back.

Lily's hair, which she often styled so it sat short and curly, and Alice's bob of chocolate brown hair had never been anything she aspired to. She'd have to tend to it every morning if she had it that short, and she wasn't that dedicated to her hair. Also, she liked her long hair. That admission made her lips quirk, just the tiniest bit as she left the bathroom.

When she was finally dressed, woolen scarf and winter robes covering her well, her thoughts were no longer on her hair, or more prominently on sleep, just as it hadn't crossed her mind last night, or the night before, or the night before. Her thoughts were, once more, on James fucking Potter.

Growling, she hastily grabbed her wand before slamming the door and ambling down the steps. She had to go back twice, once for her robes, and another to get her bag. Sirius had been in the common room, lounging on the corner of the couch by the fire, talking to a few of his quidditch teammates. Not studying, as per usual. His eyes drifted to hers for a moment, his conversation coming to a pause. Avoiding his stormy grey eyes, she quickened her pace. His surprise at seeing her was somewhat offending. Did he believe she'd hide in her room simply because he ignored her. _Ass._

As though to prove this, she managed a quick glance his way before she left the common room a firm glare ready in place. She was startled from her annoyance when she found where he'd been sitting on the couch absent, and all she could see were his shoulders as he took the stairs to his common room, two at a time. Her lips once more settled into a grim line as she left the common room, painfully aware of the hurt at losing her friend.

Sirius' abandonment came more bitterly than James'. From the beginning, she'd always had an underlying fear that if James and Lily didn't work out, that would be the end of their friendship, or even worse… they did work out, and it simply became too awkward. She hadn't had such preconceptions for Sirius. She had assumed they were in it for the long-haul. The flirtatious idiot had managed to wormed his way into her affections one wink at a time.

Sniffling, quite unattractively, she focused her attention on finding Lily. She needed help with her herbology revision and perhaps if Remus or Pete, who was surprisingly talented at the subject, weren't bloody bent on ignoring her, she would have gone to them for help. Probably at the library, or maybe that quiet spot in the courtyard…

* * *

Charlotte discreetly peeked her eyes over the prophet, narrowing in frustration as she watched Lily chatting to Remus and James. Lily was actually conversing with James, or in his presence, of her own free will. Convincing Lily to take a break from study to go eat had been hard, but it had surprisingly been Lily's idea to walk over to Remus and James. Albeit slowly with a grim frown that didn't disappear till they looked to her.

Once she realised that studying today, or attempting to, would be useless she decided to put her mind elsewhere. What better way to try and alleviate her stress than witnessing the humorous exchange between Lily and James.

Godric was she good. She'd managed to get an extremely proud witch who thought James only a little above _dirt_ , to be friendly. She didn't attempt to hide her snort of amusement at the grimace Lily unknowingly let show through every few minutes, for no one was really around to appreciate it anyway. She only wished she could read lips.

Body language was easy enough. Lily was obviously uncomfortable, her hands fidgeting with the willow wand on her lap. Her smile hesitant, and sometimes too wide to be honest, ranged between genuine curiosity of what she'd been tasked with and discomfort that she was _actually_ doing this. Remus seemed the utter opposite. He was relaxed in his chair, or as relaxed as Remus could be. Charlotte had always noted that he looked fairly uncomfortable no matter where or how he sat. Hunched, as though his frame was too large and wide for him, he hid himself away. He acted as though he should be a good deal taller and wider than he really was. For the moment, his face was calm, apparently not at all curious, surprised or startled by Lily's sudden warmth to the messy haired boy on his left. Though somewhat curious ap;patently, as his eyes narrowed slightly, flickering between his two close mates

James was… well, James. Even from this distance, she could tell he was doing his best not to act the cocky, self-assured jack-ass he's well known to be around Lily. She watched him bite his tongue and respond rather monotonously to whatever it was they were discussing. Obviously _not_ quidditch if Charlotte had to guess.

Uh oh, his eyes were narrowed now as well. Had she managed to offend him?

She bit her lip, hitting away her outgrown fringe with an annoyed sigh. She shouldn't be watching, it was creepy honestly. What else could she really do? She couldn't join them because James and Remus would shut like clams and Lily was likely to become embarrassed, annoyed or angry (whichever she decided to pick). Watching from a distance really seemed the only option.

She slumped forward, her head resting on her hands as she watched the strange interaction with a strain. Sighing again, she averted her eyes towards the bricked wall. Not exactly the most magical of sights, but anything to make it not so blatantly obvious how much she wished she was with them.

* * *

 **(~Remus Lupin~)**

"Well, i dont think thats exactly fair." Remus commented with a side smile in Lily's direction, watching with amusement as her deep green eyes narrowed.

"I'm just obtaining the source information available to me. I'd be stupid to do little else." She quipped, taking a bite of her apple in finality.

Remus smiled, and let it hold for a few seconds, letting Lily know he didn't believe a word she said. She _had_ to feel guilty. She had an advantage over all the students in their year. Whether or not others had thought to get past exams from other schools wasn't the point. She was the only one that had them, which put her ahead of the other students through nothing other than her ambitious resourcefulness.

It was actually James who had voices his thoughts, though with greater hesitancy than he would have used.

"That's rather...Slytherin of you." He said it with surprise, and a fear that she would snap at him. He was, apparently, only just starting to see the Lily Remus had known since first year. The same Lily the Sorting hat had considered placing in Ravenclaw, and even Slytherin at one point. Remus was rather curious to see how James' fascination with Lily would mould once he _actually_ got to know her.

"Oh honestly. You've done far worse. The _both_ of you." She said that with pointed direction towards Remus, though all it truly did was make his smile widen.

"Nice try," Remus mumbled, picking his book back up and leaving the conversation where it stood. He didn't begin reading again, as he was looking forward to seeing Lily and James interact. He'd seen the changes in James' behaviour towards Lily, knowing it was Charlotte's instructions, and was surprised to find they worked to James' advantage.

James had respectfully asked her about her parents, if they were well. Which led on to the discussion about how Mr Evans had fallen through a step in their home. Which had James telling her the amusic tale of when Mr Potter moved the staircase because he kept tripping over the banister. It was James who steered the conversation to Lily's childhood home.

Merlin's beard, Remus was witnessing a normal social interaction between Lily Evans and James Potter. A rare experience to be sure, he was simply surprised he found it all rather...boring. This wasn't like James. He wouldn't be able to count the numerous jokes he would have made by now on both hands. All at Lily's expense of course. Even _he_ would have poked fun at her for a few things by now. It seemed whatever front James was putting up didn't seem to be dropping any time soon.

"Cokeworth? Ah, it's alright. The area isn't the nicest in Britain, but it opens up to a lovely river and old willow tree's. Charlotte and I, even Petunia at times, loved to play around the trees. We never went near the river because Lottie fell in once… ruins everything that one."

Remus smiled, noting the light in Lily's eyes. It was odd how the sisters seemed so impossibly at odds one moment, and close friends the next. It also felt impossible how one moment they felt as though they knew Charlotte, only to discover more and more things they didn't know about her.. His smile dropped for a moment, and his eyes flickered to James. He cleared his throat, and tried to think of something to say to not let the conversation die.

"It sounds like… you were close?" Remus raised a brow, looking at James, who was focused solely on Lily. He wasn't surprised James saved the three of them from the silence, more from what he said to do so. He saved conversations with humour not…whatever that was.

" _Close_ might be a bit much," Lily said, a smirk on her lips. It softened to a smile slowly. "When we were younger, around 10, Charlotte and i shared a room. We'd stay up all night talking about the most ridiculous things. Why balloons floated, how flowers grew… What it would be like to fly. That girl was _obsessed_ with flying."

Remus subtly put his book back down and sipped his tea, trying not to draw too much attention to himself as he very much wanted Lily to continue. His eyes flickered to James' for a moment, and was unsurprised to find an unguarded small smile on his face.

"There wasn't a single bird that flew by that she wouldn't stand on her toes and point at until it disappeared. She used to tell me of dreams she had, flying above the clouds. She used to be such a dreamer."

"What changed?" Once again, James voiced his thoughts.

Lily looked hesitant to continue, and seemed to wring her hands together. Whatever war she waged within her was won in their favour, as her hands rested on the table once more, her eyes distant. "As you know, Severus lived not far from us. Just a few streets away at Spinner's End."

She paused, as though waiting for the scoff from James that never came. It was notably a much poorer district in Britain, and she must have assumed James would make a mockery of it as he once had. James wasn't at all interested in noting Snape's financial status, though he did shift uncomfortably, realising what Lily was waiting for. If there was a quip playing on in his mind, he ignored it, much to Remus' surprise which was becoming smaller at it his odd reactions the more they occurred.

"Well, Severus and i had known that we had magic much longer than Charlotte. I'm not sure when she first experienced magic, but i know from experience it was… unexpected. Reacting often to her emotions." Remus nodded, trying not to push her along the story as they both already knew about Charlotte's emotional reactive magic at a young age. "We'd been practising a fair bit, for months even, when Charlotte climbed into the tree house near the lake. We hadn't actually known that she had seen, but i found out days later."

"She was angry. Very angry for an 11 year old. It showed in her magic, and it was how i found out she was like us. I...I don't think she ever quite forgave me for not sharing that with her." Remus looked to James, seeing his thoughtful expression. "Then, we came to Hogwarts. She seemed to forgive me then. Likely because we were surrounded by other witches and wizards. It didn't take long for her to blend into the background, and as you probably know, she blames that on me. As though _i'm_ at fault for her not having friends."

Lily scoffed out a laugh then. _Bit harsh_ , Remus thought with a frown.

"And you know the rest," Lily ended with a shrug of her dainty shoulders.

" _She has friends_." Remus' eyes widened at James, who also couldn't seem to believe he'd growled at Lily. She instantly took up the defensive and frowned deeply at James and Remus. Her eyes seemed to darken then, and he knew that this was not a topic discussed often, for good reason.

"Really? Because i only ever happen to see her on her own these days. In what capacity, exactly, are you her friend?" If it wasn't asked with such malice, it would be a good question. Problem was, it didn't seem as though it was a concerned sister who was asking.

Remus tilted his head towards Lily, realising that she wasn't actually upset, concerned or worried that her sister didn't have any social connections, rather she was curious as to how, or possibly _why_ they were friends with Charlotte.

"You're surprised she's our friend." Remus stated, giving her a levelled look that she frowned at. Her mouth opened a little, then closed. She was a little speechless, and he realised that she hadn't known he considered Charlotte his friend as well (or at least had). For the moment, out of curiosity, he and James had seemed to make some sort of non-verbal agreement that getting out as much information about Charlotte from Lily meant they had to act as though nothing was the matter between them.

"Well, honestly, yes," Lily said in a rush of breath, brows furrowed as they flittered between James and Remus. "She can be outrageously rude, rash and improper at the worst of times. Her head is constantly stuck in a book, often with no name which is more than a little suspicious. She always has a comeback and expects an argument all the time. Godric, every second word that leaves her mouth is _sarcastic._ She's lazy, drinks too much and has no respect for her elders. Not to mention-"

"I'm sure that you have more to berate your _twin_ with," James snapped, glaring. Remus breathed out a sigh, realising they wouldn't be getting _anything_ out of Lily if he talked like that. "But i'm going to stop you there. I couldn't give a toss if she is improper or rash. Her kindness makes either irrelevant. She is one of the smartest witches i've met and receives no recognition for it. She has a hunger for knowledge, to understand things i've never even thought to _think_ about. Her humour may be dry, but she has a quick wit and her sarcasm is bloody refreshing. How you can say she is lazy, i'll never know. She works hard, _all the time_. She barely sleeps because she's constantly studying something."

Her mouth opened to fight back, and Remus wasn't quite as surprised as he should have been that Prongs had more to say.

"As for the drinking, she hasn't had so much as 2 glasses since Remus' party. I can assure you, that's far less than half the professors drink on a daily basis. If she doesn't respect elders, it's likely because they have never offered her the courtesy, in which case i say _fuck them_."

Remus winced, looking towards Lily, who had never been a fan of swearing.

"Godric, you sure are strong in your opinions of her. You sure you are just friends?" Lily asked, her voice shrill and suggestive. Remus sighed, realising this conversation had gone completely on its head.

"Best friends, actually." James amended with his teeth gritted together, glaring at the girl Remus knew he'd fancied for several years and obsessed over for at least the last 2. Remus had _no_ bloody idea what was going on with James. Sure, this was fairly normal for him… to be so protective of his friends… but this was _Lily freaking Evans_. How could he go from spacing out of an entire lesson by the mere mention of her, too...well, this.

Lily nodded slowly, her ruby waves bobbing with the action. She seemed to be considering something, her brows furrowed together as she and James continued to stare each other down.

"Good," Was all she said before she stood up, grabbed her book, her bag and walked from the great hall, a very deep prominent frown of displeasure still marking her usually lovely face. Remus watched her go with momentary confusion.

Why go to all that effort of fighting James and end up happy with his argument? Unless she had actually been trying to get that response out of him from the start… Remus lip quirked, by just a fraction, as he watched her leave. He shook his head slightly as he tried to keep his laughter down. It seemed as though Lily, someone who always prided herself on being straightforward with people, managed to twist the conversation in such a way that Prongs revealed his honest affections for Charlotte without making it look like Lily _actually_ cared.

His eyes met James' who clearly had no idea, or ' _sodding idea,'_ as he put it, what just went on. Remus now could tell she was scouting Prongs feelings for Charlotte, what he couldn't tell was how much of what _she_ said was honesty. Was her anger towards her sister genuine? What a curious interaction indeed.

He turned his coy smile to James, raising a brow. And James...well, James had been entirely unpredictable. "Best Friends eh?"

"Shut it Moony."

* * *

 **(~Charlotte Evans~)**

One moment she was resting her eyes, slumped on the table, and the next had her staggering away from the room entirely, clutching at her head. She shut her eyes a moment, as though the simple act would wish away the daggers that pierced behind them. Taking one step, then another, she found herself stumbling away from the great hall, plopping on a bench on its outer walls. Whatever was going on in the great hall was no longer any of her concern, for she was quite sure something was being ripped out of her chest.

She heaved out her breaths and clutched her chest with a depravity only known when ever bit of air is stolen from your lungs. Her vision went black and her head pounded in her ears as she felt the cool bricks behind her, a comfort for her bruising mind. She pulled her cloak from her shoulders slowly, languidly and untied her gryffindor scarf that hung around her like a noose.

It took her too long to realise someone sat at her side, holding onto her forearm with a vice grip, but she hadn't yet gained the vision to recognise who it was.

" _Dz yoz nzz mazmm pomfrzz"_

Charlotte blinked her eyes slowly, her hands cupping her ears lightly as high pitched ringing stole any sense of awareness she might of had otherwise. She pushed away the arm, but the shadow of a person remained at her side.

Slowly, as though waking from a dream, her vision cleared, and the high pitched scream dulled to a low whine. Her hands dropped and she found herself sitting aside Mandy. A 4th year gryffindor she only knew as a member of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, as Sirius and James had mentioned her name in passing a few times. She sighed and rubbed her eyes, her head and eventually her neck.

"What?" She asked gruffly, a sigh on her lips and exhaustion evident in her posture, quite uncaring that she might have sounded a little rude

"I said, do you need me to get madam pomfrey? You looked like you were having a fit." Charlotte stared at the girl sitting beside her, quiet surprise that she had even noticed her sitting on the bench.

"Nah, I'm _fine_. Peachy. Bloody Brilliant," she bit distractedly, still feeling rather shaky and hot. Her eyes flickered to the side, and she sighed at the girl who was biting her lip with a look that suggested she was considering running off.

"I'm all right now," Charlotte said distractedly, pulling at her scarf and taking it completely off. She then unbuttoned her shirt and sat back. Eventually, when she realised how awkward the silence became she added a quiet " _thanks."_

"Mandy, 4th year gryffindor." She held her hand out and gave a tentative smile. Charlotte's brows subconsciously lowered, completely oblivious of her suspicious nature.

"Charlotte, 6th year gryffindor." They held on for a moment and let go.

They sat awhile, mostly in silence. She was still harbouring a fairly bad headache, so she didn't mind the quiet that was only broken by students entering and leaving the great hall. Mandy asked her a few questions, not overly personal and fairly general. Charlotte, in turn did the same, albeit awkwardly. She despised small talk but the girl beside her seemed insistent upon conversing, no matter what the topic seemed to be.

They met a bit of a bare patch in the conversation, and Charlotte found herself looking around for something to ask her. "So, you like quidditch?"

"Hm?" She raised a questioning brow and followed Charlotte's finger which was directed at her shirt. Her eyes lit with realisation at the bright colours of the harpies emblem, proudly declaring her favourite quidditch team. It was actually one of 2 national quidditch teams Charlotte could name.

"Love it," Mandy corrected, her cheeks flushed and a embarrassed smile on her lips. "I'm in Gryffindor, but I haven't been put in place yet, just the team all rounder."

Charlotte nodded slowly, admitting with hesitancy, "I've seen you fly before… your damn quick." Though she'd never seen a proper game of Quidditch, she had walked past the Quidditch pitch whilst practise was on. Mandy was thin, but tall, which aided her on being quick on her broom. Even when all she was riding was a comet 140, she still shot across the pitch like a spell.

She seemed embarrassed by Charlotte's praise, as though it hadn't been said before, _or enough._ She didn't know how good she was at Quidditch, never having seen her play, but she was _sure_ that she was a fantastic flyer at the very least.

Mandy sighed, looking across the corridor at a few 2nd years hurrying by with stacks of books in their hands. She rubbed her hands together and shook her head slowly. "Not quick enough for a proper part of the team apparently. The captain doesn't think I'm good enough yet."

Charlotte frowned, wondering if that's really what James thought. "Do you think you are?"

"Circe, I thought I was ready a year ago. Maybe even two. But the ass- sorry, I really shouldn't… I just- ugh." She shook her head in frustration, her cheeks lighting up. Charlotte couldn't help the chuckle. She'd always wondered if James ran his teammates into the ground, and _apparently_ he did. "I've wanted to play since I was little, and this is my 3rd year on the team that I'm just a reserve."

"I don't usually complain to people i just met either," She admitted, once more looking embarrassed. It was amazing how such a tall lithe girl who was, honestly, rather elegant in appearances, could appear so much like a measly mouse.

"What can I say, people just open up to me," Charlotte drawled sarcastically. She smiled, just a little, but mostly just studied her hands which sat on her lap.

"Look, I really don't know much about quidditch…" Charlotte admitted slowly, clearing her throat. "But I'm sure that James has a good reason for holding you back."

"Maybe he's jealous of _how_ good you are," she joked. It was lost on Mandy, who was now staring at her hands with furrowed brows.

She looked over at Charlotte eventually, with obvious surprise on her features. " _James_ huh. You friends?" Charlotte hesitated, _were they?_ but nodded anyway, to which Mandy just watched with a small frown. She shook her head lightly and looked down at her hands tightly clasped together.

"James Potter is one of the meanest people I have ever met in my life." Charlotte's brows rose, a smirk on her lips. He really _did_ run them into the ground! Her smirk fell quickly when Mandy glared at her with red cheeks. _She wasn't joking._ "He's a bully. Both him and Black."

Charlotte cleared her throat and shuffled a bit where she sat, feeling more than a little awkward. What could she exactly say? She'd noticed they were pretty nasty prat's sometimes, particularly to the young ones, but it was generally just for fun. She'd never really experienced it herself. An indirect prank here and there, but nothing too dramatic. Coloured hair was the worst, and the green had come out after a few washes…

Surely their jokes couldn't get much worse than that.

"They...well, they just have a bit of fun don't they?" Charlotte asked, as unsure of what she was saying as she sounded. "I don't think they mean to…"

"To what? Hurt people? Humiliate them? Belittle them? Make them feel like utter hippogriff shite?" Charlotte snorted, apologizing quickly afterwards. Mandy was quite serious, and Charlotte was surprised to hear just how bad they were from someone other than Lily, who disliked James because he was incessantly infatuated with her, and Sirius well… because he's Sirius.

She'd heard Severus rant, but she had the tendency to block him out as he always did with her.

"I am sick and tired of people making _champions_ out of them simply because they are the class clowns and have dreamy smiles. If they were Slytherins, or _godric forbid_ not as attractive as they are, no one would take their shit," Mandy blurted, throwing her hands out. " Peter Pettigrew is a nasty little boy who used to pick on me cause i was chubby in first year. Potter nicknamed me tubs. He doesn't remember it now, but i do. I _bloody remember_ and so does all the other 4th years. Sirius, thick as he is, managed to humiliate me entirely and i was picked on by the bloody slytherins all year."

" ...and Remus?" Charlotte dared to ask, having the decency not to ask _how_ Sirius had humiliated her, no matter how curious she may have been.

"He lets it all happen!" She cried indignantly. "He's a bloody school prefect and barely knows better than they do! The lot of them are trouble."

Charlotte actually didn't disagree with her on those two points. As a prefect, he really should be doing more to stop them. She knew he didn't exactly... _approve_ of some of their methods. But, at the end of the day, he never gave them detentions, nor did he take points off them. It was quite a surprise Lily didn't voice that point more.

"Well i can't argue with that," Charlotte answered eventually, a lopsided smile on her lips. She didn't condone their actions, but she couldn't exactly say what they did was wrong or right without knowing exactly what they did and it didn't appear as though Mandy were about to open up to her.

Whatever James and Sirius did, they obviously hadn't realised what they were doing, because they hadn't said a bad thing about Mandy since she'd known them. To be fair, they've only really spoken about her quidditch ability, but that wasn't exactly a bad thing.

"If you're friends with them, why haven't i seen you with them at all?" Her flair of annoyance gone, innocent curiosity was all that remained. Charlottes eye twitched but she couldn't quite be frustrated with Mandy. Charlotte had never had a run in with Mandy or any real reason for her to know who she was.

It still left a bitter taste in her mouth, but she didn't blame Mandy. It had gotten to the point where she simply accepted it all. What was the point in getting angry? Nonetheless, Charlotte sighed, her head in her hands as she stared at the girl who patiently awaited her response.

She smiled then, figuring she could play it off with a joke. "Well, i've hit a bit of a stale point in the friendsh-"

"Come to think of it," Mandy interrupted with a slightly fuzzy eyes. "I don't recall seeing you at _all._ What did you say your surname was?"

Charlottes smile dropped and she glared, not at Mandy though. _Not her fault_ , Charlotte had to remind herself. Picking up her scarf, she tucked into her pocket. She adjusted her robes so they didn't look as though she had just tumbled out of the black lake. Then, fixing her hard gaze on Mandy, she finally answered. "Didn't."

"Listen, I'm sorry. I meant no offence. It's just peculiar I guess." Mandy was quick to answer, her hands up and her cheeks red _again_. Charlotte mused that perhaps she had a condition.

She shouldn't be that bothered by a student two years her junior not _immediately_ knowing who she was. Honestly, it was rather petty of her. If she wasn't so self-centred and absorbed in her own little world, perhaps she'd be open to the possibility that someone may just not know her because...well, they'd never met her! Mandy had never even met her since today.

"Charlotte Evans. And before you ask, Lily Evans is my twin sister." Charlotte eventually spoke to the silence with a pained grimace, watching with little care as students milled out of the great hall. Her sister being one of them. Lily had a fiercely angry and determined look on her face as she quickened her pace in the direction of the courtyard.

Charlotte only hoped the snow and icy winds outside would manage to help thaw her sister. She didn't need an angry Lily around exam time. Perhaps the chat with James didn't go over so well after all.

"The prefect Potter is infatuated with?"

"One and the same," Charlotte answered without looking away from the far wall, the stones lined with a large (what looked to be) handmade wall hanging. It wasn't the array of twine that had her attention, rather the group of students sitting in front of it. 4 or 5 first years sat in a circle. A bubble of isolation from everything else. They had their books out, but they weren't at all paying attention to the importance of enunciation when casting spells. It was a curious group. Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors by the colours of their scarves.

It wasn't as though she thought they shouldn't be friends, she just imagined it would be an interesting friendship. She'd never really spoken to a Hufflepuff longer than a 'Can i borrow a quill?' and 'Would you know where-' is. She imagined them to be quite like Mandy.

Turning back to girl on her right, she regarded her with a small frown. She was meek, yet..quite obviously, passionate at times. Perfect combination of gryffindor and hufflepuff if she ever saw one. It was clear she was rather fervent in the idea that James was a horrible wizard, as she continued to sit biting her lip with her brows knotted together tightly.

"You know, he can be a bit of a prick at times...but a bad person?" She smiled then, a small soft one. "He has a good heart, but rather daft when it comes to showing it. He has changed. Sirius is a bit of a head case, but he means well. If he wasn't such a flirtatious jerk towards anything that moved, perhaps people would have a more accurate first impression of him."

Mandy shook her head slowly, focused rather intently on proving Charlotte wrong. "You don't understand. He has changed lately but it's a show. I'm sure of it."

Charlotte smiled again, shaking her head. _She had no idea_. Charlotte herself often wondered how much of his personality was just a show, especially considering she could barely get two words out of him these days. Was his enigmatic side just a show for the crowd and the surly withheld person he's morphed into what he is actually like?

There is no way to really tell when she couldn't get within 15 feet of him before he turned tail and walked the opposite way. She'd ask Sirius but...well, that wasn't an option either. Eventually she just sighed. "You're half right there."

"And Blacks a knob," Mandy said with her brows lowered and her mouth in a frown. Charlotte couldn't help the laugh. It was funny to hear someone, other than Lily, not singing Sirius' praises. It wasn't as though he didn't deserve to be praised,but the way the other girls at Hogwarts gaggled about him was enough for her to want to avoid him on principle alone. Of course, he couldn't help that he was good looking, but he could certainly learn a thing or two about modesty.

She was also laughing because, blunt admission and all, Mandy wasn't wrong.

"You're completely right there," Charlotte managed eventually. Mandy gave her a smile, and Charlotte relaxed back against the brick wall. She felt her shoulders hunch forward, almost as though she was curling into a ball. She was exhausted and whatever strength that she'd used to get out of her bed and power through today had left her in her odd episode this morning. She was completely and utterly drained.

"Alright?" Mandy's voice snapped her out of the reverie she fell into. Her eyes, which were half lidded blinked a few times, and she offered a weak smile which strangely resembled a pained grimace..

"Dizzy, light headed and a lovely headache coming on," Charlotte voiced, wincing when she sat up from the wall and felt a shockwave of pain up her neck. Stress induced most likely. She leaned forward, arms on her knees and her face in her hands. "Brilliant, just what I need before exams."

Charlotte's brows rose and she looked at Mandy with a quirked lip as the girl patted her shoulder awkwardly. "Well, rest up. I'd suggest heading to the dorms and maybe catch up on some sleep? I know exams are important, but... they aren't your OWLS or NEWTS, so you can live on a few Trolls so long as you are alive to take your final exams next year. "

"True, and a very good idea," Charlotte said, smiling and standing up. If she did it slowly, and seemed unbalanced on her feet, Mandy didn't point it out. Charlotte was thankful for that. She already felt silly enough having _another_ fainting spell.

Come to think of it, it might actually be a good idea to pop in to see Madam Pomfrey. Pick up a potion for sleeping, and a pepper up for afterwards. Perhaps a _few_ pepper up potions if it was permissible.

Set on what to do, she adjusted her satchel, which had been on her the entire time (if not back to front and used as a cushion), and took a few steps away. At the last second, as though a passing thought, she paused in her gait and turned towards the tall lanky girl still sitting on the bench. After considering her for a few moments with her head tilted to the side, she offered her a small smile.

"Will see you around Mandy."

Surprise evident, Charlotte was gifted a wide smile and a nod of her head, not something unlike what she'd seen Remus give to Sirius, James and Pete. "Yeah, you too Charlotte."

* * *

 **(~Remus Lupin~)**

He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, hearing just as much as feeling his lungs suck up the oxygen like a sponge.

 _Snap and shudder as a pencil fell out of someone's grasp and slipped to the floor, meeting wood like a clap. thundering cackle of a high pitched laughter, booming earthquake of someone slamming their door. Talking, giggling, sneezing, snoring._

Remus breathed out, his eyes scrunching together. He kept his breaths steady, and focused on the steady beating of his heart. Focusing on trying to keep it that way.

 _The deafening crackle of a fire, scrunching of a parchment, and another one...and even more parchment. Piercing wind hitting the windows on the south wall like an army against a barricade._

His brow twitched and he adjusted his position on the bed, getting comfortable again as he tried to block it all out. But it was hard. Godric was it hard. Every sound broke his concentration with a strange bombardment of adrenaline. He was constantly startled every time he heard a step up the stairs and a dorm door close. Everything was so _loud._

And there was so much _scratching_.

It was a quill on parchment, several quills in fact. It sounded like hundreds in his ears but really could be no more than 3 or 4. 3 or 4 were enough though, and the sound rebounded around the back of his skull like a battering ram. His chest tightened, at the same time as his eyes when someone laughed, loudly. His hands gripped the sheets in his fists as he focused on his breathing again, much louder and faster now.

He had strategies, methods of dealing with these situations, which sometimes lessened the intensity of it all His parents had taken him to some muggle doctors with the claim he had anxiety induced panic attacks. His hearing was 'overly sensitive' and generally would trigger the attack. All nonsense obviously, but he couldn't exactly go ahead and tell a bunch of muggle doctors he was fighting symptoms of a full moon because of his lycanthropy. The doctors are more likely to throw him in a padded cell then actually help him.

It was too risky to go to a healer, so a muggle doctor was their only option.

The doctors said trying to ignore the sounds wouldn't work. If they were as all consuming as Remus claimed, the only thing he could do was concentrate on the sound. Think about what all those sounds could be. None of it could harm him, he just had to relax and think about the sounds.

The doctors also offered surgery, but that was obviously not an option.

This method worked for the first few days of the week before the full moon, but when it was 2 -3 days away, it became too unbearable. Thankfully, the oversensitive hearing died down when it became 2 nights before. That's when the sensitive smell began. That stage was more disturbing than anything. Especially when he had to share a room with 3 other blokes.

He tried to breathe calmly, and he named all the sounds, one by one. He tried to image who was making the sounds, what they could be doing to make them. After awhile, he turned it into a game. But, after lying on his bed for 3 hours listening to the overwhelming sounds of the Gryffindor common room, none of the strategies he'd been taught seemed to work anymore. The sounds just wouldn't shut up or quieten down, and his brain wouldn't turn off enough for him to be relaxed, and he truly felt like he was going insane.

He heard the footsteps on the spiral staircase, recognising Sirius' gait instantly. He grit his teeth, too agitated to appreciate that his friend was not only walking without shoes on, he had gently opened the door and took his time to close it to ensure it was quiet. Though his eyes were still closed, he heard Sirius creep over to his bed and sit down, crossing his legs underneath him.

" _Remus, you alright?"_

He could _feel_ Sirius' concern for him just from the tone of his voice. His breathing softened for a moment, settling out as he focused on his friend. He opened his eyes and turned slightly, opening his mouth to reply when loud stomping shattered his calm. Or what was left of it.

The three 2nd years didn't realise that running up the stairs laughing would have caused such an adverse reaction from their 6th year prefect, but perhaps if they had, they might have been more considerate of how loud they were. Not that Remus had the patience to think on what they _might_ have done otherwise. He was rather focused on simply shutting the noise up, not what caused the noise.

"Alright." He spat through gritted teeth, hitting the bed once with his fist then again. " **Am I ALRIGHT?"** Remus yelled, standing up from the bed and walking to the door to their dorm. He tugged on it hard, letting it bang against the wall, the earth shattering sound only fuelling the fire of his 'attack'. Before he took another step, something wrapped under his arms and over his neck, effectively trapping him.

Sirius had caught him in quite a good position at the perfect time. He struggled, hissing in pain when Sirius tugged hard backwards, closing the door with his foot in the process.

"For… your own…. good." He heard Sirius struggle out as he tackled Remus to the floor and sat on him. They wrestled a while till Remus finally collapsed in exhaustion, Sirius rolling off to the side and they laid on the wood, breaths coming out in gasps till it became sputters. Soon, they were both laughing, Sirius curling up in a ball as he clutched his stomach.

Remus sighed, a smile on his lips as he put his hands behind his head, relieved of the momentary distraction. His shoulders unclenched and that nasty headache he'd had for a few days now seemed to lessen. Sure, distantly he acknowledged that the sounds reverberating around in his skull had not lessened, but Sirius had always had the distinct gift of distracting people from their troubles.

"It's bad this time, innit?" Remus opened one eye to look at Sirius. He shut it and sighed. _Momentary distraction gone_. Sirius was sitting cross legged beside remus, frowning. Remus had no doubt that Sirius was taking in his appearance. Unkempt clothes, messy hair and his scars more visible than usual. He was well and truly a mess.

Not only that, he hadn't studied for well over 2 days. Their exams were starting _tomorrow_. Besides meals, he generally didn't leave the solitude of his dorm until the full week of exams were well and truly over and the castle could breathe once more. Their end of term feast signified a time of celebration, not only for exams but also the house cup. Gryffindor truly didn't stand a chance this year. Remus knew it was partly Sirius' fault. After all, he single handedly managed to lose, on an an average, 20 points a week. Remus managed to gain at least 10 a week, which cut Sirius' loss by half.

It wasn't _always_ his fault. Warbeck, idiot first name Farion, was the current head boy and a classic Slytherin. Prick of a boy took any chance he could to take points off, punish and abuse Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, half-bloods, muggleborns and, at times, girls. Though none of them could prove he'd actually done it, Pete had overheard from a group of slytherins that were loitering about the quidditch stands that Warbeck had used some insane curses on his ex-girlfriend when she dumped him. Remus figured he was _dropped_ as a child.

Sirius gave him a light shove with his foot. Not enough to hurt, just enough to get his attention.

"No more than the last," Remus answered, sitting up and running his hand down his face. He gestured towards the door with a smile. "Sounds are a bit much."

Sirius nodded, a frown adorning his lips once more. Remus sighed and rubbed his neck, watching out of the corner of his eye as Sirius chewed on his lip, looking around the room for a solution. Though he'd usually be warmed by Sirius' and especially James' enthusiasm to solve every problem presented to them, when it came to _this_ , he felt like he was the problem. How hard they'd all tried to accommodate Remus into a normal lifestyle, if it could even be called that. They would joke around and pretend it wasn't that big of an issue, but still… every month on a full moon he turned and spent the night in agony.

He was glad they were there, if not for himself, then for the others at the school. Godric, he couldn't imagine the guilt if he accidentally hurt one of the students. If he hurt a friend like Lily. He was quite sure it would break him.

"We'll try to keep it down." Remus rose a brow at Sirius, but smiled. " I'll make some sort of announcement in the common room about being quiet for studying...or something."

Remus snorted. "Studying. Might have to think of something else if you want to be believable"

Sirius pouted and crossed his arms against his chest. Though Remus supposed he was trying to act meek, all it did was make his frame seem larger as his cotton shirt stretched against his muscles. Remus had told him the look didn't work for him, but he refused to believe it. It was apparently how he won sympathy with all the birds. "Shut it. I'll have you know Pete and i were just in the library revising potions."

"Well," Remus said with a laugh at the snobby turn of Sirius nose. "I'm very impressed. Soon you'll be doing _my_ homework and not the bloody other way round."

Sirius rolled his eyes, but couldn't help the wide smile. It fell eventually as they both welcomed the silence. The past few days, _weeks really_ had seemingly disappeared in a flurry of busyness. He didn't feel like they were any closer to finding answers about Charlotte, then they had been when they first took her file. They'd certainly learnt more that reinforced the idea that something was _very wrong_ with Charlotte.

The whole thing was rather hard on Sirius, who was confused...but didn't believe Charlotte had bad intentions. He likely felt guilty for ignoring her as obviously as he had in the past few days, and maybe even missed her company a tiny bit.

Prongs was...not himself. He was immensely serious about everything that related to Charlotte, and often snapped at Sirius whenever he made a lighthearted joke. Actually, he was almost _always_ in an extreme mood. One moment he would be elated about Lily smiling at him, the next he was angry that Pete has spilt some ink on his bed. Anxious about exams, and depressed about Charlotte. It wasn't like James to flit so quickly between emotions. He had always felt things strongly, but he felt them for extended periods of time. Lately, he would get bursts of emotions that flickered and changed with the wind.

After the conversation he'd witnessed between James and Lily, James had slumped his way to the common room as though a black cloud followed him. He'd caught eye of Lily and Alice and decided his time was best spent elsewhere and, accordingly to the map, he'd spent the better half of the morning sitting by the black lake. If Remus had not been in such a state, he might've considered joining him.

"James is pissed at me" Remus looked over at Sirius with raised brows. Curious that they had both been thinking the same thing, he turned his attention towards the shaggy haired boy. He waited awhile to see if Sirius would share on his own, but knew that he would need a little more of a nudge. There were times Sirius was vocal, and other times when he lost his voice all together. When it came to fighting with his mates, he seemed to lose all sense of articulation. "know what for?"

Sirius shook his head, then shrugged, the proceeded, as Sirius often did, to spew out every instance in the last few weeks where James has not been himself. Snapping at Sirius for something incredibly minor, lying to him and just the general distrust he seemed to currently have. He talked about James' moods around Lily and was rather open about how much he _didn't_ like whatever change had gone on.

It was clear that Sirius was angry and frustrated at his mate, but Remus knew it was likely because he missed him more than anything.

Most of all, he talked about Charlotte. He knew why, as James really seemed to be affected by the situation. He also knew Sirius still cared for Charlotte. To what capacity, he wasn't exactly sure. Perhaps he felt sorry for her, or saw himself in her. Perhaps he simply liked her as a friend, or perhaps he felt something more. Whatever he felt for Charlotte, Remus knew Sirius would still put James first.

"I don't think he is directly angry at you, he just...doesnt like the situation." Remus said eventually with a shrug. He wasn't really sure what more he could say. Whatever was going on in Prongs' head seemed to be for him, and him alone for the moment. If Remus wasn't so disturbed by James sudden change of character, he might of thrown his hand in the air and simply called him a drama queen. He was certainly well known for being one.

Sirius frowned and slumped on the floor, a pout on his lips. "Well he's not the only one, doesn't need to be such an ass about it."

Remus smiled, tilting his head. "Do i need to lock you in a room again."

"Don't you dare"

* * *

 **(~Lily Evans~)**

Lily had been studying transfiguration in the great hall when Remus joined her at the Gryffindor table. He sat on her left and she offered him a quick smile before getting back to her notes. It wasn't as though she was ignoring Remus, she just knew that if she didn't focus on her readings, she would have no chance of passing an A (Acceptable) and she had been aiming for an O for all her classes.

She was well aware, even though Remus continued to remind her, that 6th year exams didn't have the same scoring as OWLS and NEWTS, but to Lily, her exams this year were just as important as last year's and next year's. He told her she was just being relentlessly (unnecessarily) competitive. Perhaps she was.

Their class, which was shared with the Slytherin 6th years, had spent 4 whole lessons going over Human transfiguration and specifically _Crinus Muto_ , a particularly hard transfiguration spell that Lily hadn't quite got the hang of. So, as any sensible student would do, she approached her Professor and requested a tutoring lesson or two. Professor Mcgonagall had originally told her she should seek student tutoring, however Lily refused to ask help from James Potter who was apparently the only candidate she found worthy.

Lily didn't quite understand her Professor's proclivity to both dislike and favouritise Potter. True, he was admittedly quite gifted in the field of transfiguration, but he broke countless rules and didn't respect his teachers as he should. Of all things, he treated them like they were his ' _mates'_ not respected Professors, Mentors and Adults. Still, Professor Mcgonagall was quick to push her towards her favourite student. Once she realised Lily wouldn't have anything to do with Potter, she relented to two classes only.

And still, Lily couldn't cast the spell properly.

It didn't make sense. She got an Exceeds Expectations for charms in her OWLS and barely an Acceptable for transfiguration. She poured over every text she could find, but nothing helped her understand _how_ to make the spell work.

Sighing deeply, she slumped on a hand and looked towards Remus. His sandy brown hair fell across his forehead that was scrunched in lines. He was studying _something_ with a vengeance. Upon further inspection, she discovered it was a leather bound book on Hexes, Curses and Dark magic, opened on a page about the Veil. Specifically the one located in the Department of ministries. She would guess it was for defence against the dark arts if she didn't know, quite well, that their Sixth Year DADA professor swayed more towards the use of protective spells and resisting curses.

His eyes flickered to her and crinkled in mirth. Smiling, he turned back towards his book but not before using his free hand to lightly shove her shoulder so her head fell of her hand and she was startled out of her staring. She bumped her shoulders against his playfully, sharing one last smile with him before refocusing on the task at hand.

She went over her notes a few more times, but she found she was no more knowledgeable than before. It was hard to study for a practical exam without _practically_ studying it. The problem being she was a tad frightened to _actually_ try the spell. She'd heard of people who'd done the spell wrong and ended up permanently stuck in their transfigured position.

Now, if should could try to spell on _Black_ , perhaps she'd have a chance of getting better at it.

"Happy thought?" Remus asked, raising a brow.

"Quite," Lily answered with a suspiciously satisfying smirk. If Remus was curious as to what the happy thought was, he didn't voice it as only a moment after asking his question, he was back to reading his blasted book. Lily sighed again and put her transfiguration notes away in favour of her Ancient runes. Now _this_ was a topic she understood well.

Eventually, Remus must have also gotten bored, as he closed his book and cleared his throat, effectively getting Lily's attention. Gone was his playfulness from earlier, and she had to raise a brow in question at the suddenly serious nature of her friend.

"Lily, I've asked you in the past… things about your sister. You never found that peculiar?"

Lily frowned, wondering about the odd subject of conversation. It was odd that he was asking about her with such a serious look on his face. It was odd that he was asking _at all_. Though, as of late...he seemed to be asking her about Charlotte more often than not.

"Well no, not really. Charlotte _is_ peculiar." Lily said with a roll of her eyes. Remus attention was unwavering and his expression remained as stony as before. He wouldn't accept an answer that dismissive. _She wouldn't either_. With a sigh, Lily shrugged her shoulders. "I figured there was bound to be questions when you, or at least Black and Potter became somewhat close to her. If you hadn't noticed, I had my own questions about their motives."

She was referring to their conversation earlier that day. It was clear, very clear actually, that Remus was aware of her intentions. It was the small smile at the end that gave him away. She was certain Potter had no idea. He was too much on edge and, quite curiously...very un-potter like. He was quite reserved until his enigmatic outburst. She hadn't simply been trying to annoy him when she'd suggested he fancied Charlotte, she wanted to see his reaction because it was a genuine concern. The one thing she certainly did _not_ need in her life was Potter as her boyfriend-in-law of all things.

But, to her surprise, he'd responded with genuine care. She really was his-their friend. After that realisation, she was so bloody angry and annoyed she had to take a nice long walk to clear her head.

Of course, as her original intention, she was thankful there was nothing malicious going on. Honestly, after she got over the initial shock of Charlotte _having_ friends, she was suspicious Potter was only friends with Charlotte to get closer to Lily. She was reserved to say she was a bit worried her sister might get hurt in the process.

What made her angry was rather confusing. She was annoyed by Potter's reaction and that she went to all that effort simply to (partially) help her bloody sister. Annoyed, but not angry.

Remus' reaction was also frustrating. She hadn't known he considered Charlotte a friend as well, and she wasn't as reserved as she should have been to say she didn't like that. Remus was one of the good ones. She didn't like that he was friends with black and Potter and she most assuredly not happy that he was now friends with her sister.

She couldn't name what made her angry. She got what she wanted out of the situation, ensuring that 1. Potter was actually friends with her and 2. He was friends with her because he liked her as a person. She just hadn't been expected him to argue with her the way Charlotte had at Remus' party.

"Which you seem to have cleared up." Remus' assessment was correct to a degree. Her questions were answered, but it felt like more now hid in the far reaches of her mind.

Lily tilted her head and flicked her hair backwards, narrowing her eyes at Remus."But you haven't."

"No," was his short and very clear answer. Lily sighed and slumped in her seat. Now it was clear what this entire conversation was about, possibly why Remus even came to sit beside her. He wanted to talk about Charlotte.

Why, after 6 years of only a few students knowing who Charlotte was, did everyone suddenly become curious and best mates with her twin sister? She thought back to when this all started, but she can't exactly pinpoint an exact time or occasion which brought on this change.

"Remus, I don't know what to tell you. She has always been here. _Always._ You were friendly with her in first year. You were friends with both of us, as we sort of came as a package at the start. One day, it was like you'd just forgotten her. I don't understand it anymore than you do." She shrugged and started scribbling on a bit of parchment. Just rewriting the notes she already had with angry dark lines.

She didn't know why she'd thought he'd just let it go. He was nothing if not perseverant.

"Why have you never questioned it?"

"I have!" Lily exploded, slamming her book down. Students around them quieted and looked towards the red-headed gryffindor who rarely lost her cool on occasion. She shot daggers with her forest green eyes, and silenced any questions any of their peers might have had. She turned her icy glare to Remus. "I _have_. There was nothing… absolutely nothing I could do to explain it. I researched it thoroughly…made detailed observations with her interactions… but I _can't_ explain it."

"Why didn't you tell me any of this before?" Remus implored, brows lowered and frustration clear. He searched her eyes and a sickening feeling deepened in her stomach the longer he watched her. He made her feel like she'd been in the wrong…. _Was she?_ When he became aware she wasn't going to answer, he pushed. "Why didn't you tell _her_? You weren't sure? You didn't want to worry her?You… didn't _care_?"

Lily had never really thought on telling Charlotte her suspicions. It wasn't as though telling her would fix anything, _change_ anything. Charlotte would just become more frantic to fix some sort of imaginary issue and after the first year of Charlotte;'s continuous stream of blame on Lily, she really had no interest in creating or doubling her sisters hysteria. "I don't know...i guess i didn't want her to know that I thought something was wrong."

Remus sighed and put a hand on his face, gripping the bridge of his nose as though a headache lay dormant behind it. Lily frowned and tugged on her rob sleeves. _Why was this my fault?_

"This whole time...she has felt so incredibly alone." Remus said in a bare whisper, looking at his hands before him. What made her feel guilty now was how painful he seemed to say it. As though he _truly_ understood how she felt. But that couldn't be right. He has Black, Potter and Pettigrew. He has _her_. "You knew... _suspected at least,_ that something wasn't right...and you just let her believe that? Why?"

Lily exhaled slowly, trying to avoid his hard stare. It wasn't often Remus had that look and she was trying to quell the impulse to blame it on Charlotte. She played with the idea of just leaving the great hall, but knew that the conversation would not be dropped and it would be brought up once more. Likely more heated as well.

"Because it could have just been _her_. You know how she is, and she isn't the most pleasant half the time. She blames me for it all. All of it is my fault because I force her into my shadow." A cold laugh left her lips as she shrugged. "She has envied and despised me for years and-"

"And you could have stopped it!" Remus hissed leaning forward. Lily's jaw hung open and she was left speechless for a few moments. "All it would have taken was one conversation, letting her know of your suspicions and she would have known that it wasn't just in her head. She wasn't a bad person. She wasn't _alone."_

" _Hold on,_ how is this suddenly my fault ? Again." Lily laughed, grabbing her books and parchment and stuffing them into her bag in a messy fashion. "Honestly, a tree could fall and land on the girl and somehow i would be blamed. I am over here, trying to be a concerned sister and what… you're attacking me for it? Come off it Remus."

"Concerned sister? Are you joking." Remus implored. Lily avoided his eyes and shook her head, satisfied that she shouldn't feel guilty about whatever Remus was trying to prove.

"You know what? I'm quite done talking about Charlotte. Every single conversation I have had with you these last few weeks has been about Charl-"

"You brought her up in the first place!" he yelled, referring to their conversation earlier in the day.

Lily, quite startled, sat back and just _looked_ at him. Like a whisper in the back of her mind, she was reminded why she hadn't wanted Charlotte and Remus to be friends in the first place. "And you're being incredibly dramatic, something which you always point out as a fault in James and Sirius."

Lily sat back and shook her head, trying to level her anger. " No. i am not being dramatic. I finally give Potter a chance. Talk to him like a person as she has _begged_ me to for weeks, and he starts talking about her. _Godric_ , I'm done!" She made motions to pack up her things and leave, but it was Remus who managed to stand up before her.

"Circe you have a way of seeming so relentlessly cold and petty sometimes." Lily stood up at his side and glared at her best friend. His brows were still furrowed and his usually soft eyes were shockingly hard. His stance was tall, but his shoulders fell inwards like he was fighting against falling asleep where he stood. He had bags under his eyes and for the first time, she noticed he kept jumping at loud sounds.

Guilt and hurt swam through her and she blocked the both of them off by focusing on her anger. Of all the people, she had hoped Remus would stick by her when it came to Charlotte. Alice had never disliked Charlotte, in fact she actually welcomed her company, especially when she was being her sarcastic narcissistic self, which Lily found confusing. She had the other girls in her year, but she wasn't really close to any of them. Severus was no longer a friend _at all_ or she would have relied on him more for this situation. He'd always taken her side when it came to Charlotte.

Remus was level-headed and always assessed situations before coming to a concrete conclusion. He had come to his conclusion and decided that Lily was at fault. But he was _wrong._

"And you have always had the _wonderful_ ability to stick your nose into my business." Lily gave Remus a tight, mocking smile using both hands to make a waving motion towards the doors of the great hall. "Why don't you stick it elsewhere. You clearly like Charlotte. Go stick it up her business."

Remus frowned, and for the first time, he looked truly disappointed in Lily. A sharp knife twisted uncomfortably in her stomach and her smile dropped.

"Considering this has turned into a ridiculous argument firsties have, i'm leaving for the common room." He grabbed his satchel, and his book. He stepped out from the bench and turned to leave, but didn't. Lily could see his shoulders sag slightly, then become tall again, as though he'd let out a large sigh. He half turned to look back at Lily, and she found his disappointed expression vacant, the hard one left.

"Before i go...i was asking about _Charlotte,_ not you. And secondly, Piss off Lily."

She had no response, and watched silently as he walked out of the great hall.

* * *

 **(~Sirius Black~)**

Sirius looked up with a wide smile, seeing Remus walk into their dorm. His sensitivity to hearing had begun to subside, which made him a much happier roommate to be around. He hadn't seen Remus since earlier that day when he'd had the 'episode' (as Remus liked to call it), and could instantly tell that he was feeling a little better. Not only that, James was starting to act like himself again. For the first time in several weeks, his smile didn't feel forced or shadowed by whatever crap was going on in the background.

"Moony, we've been waiting for you!" Pete yelled with a laugh.

Sirius sat up on his bed and pointed to where James lay collapsed in exhaustion on his bed. "You should have seen what prongs just di-"

"Just, hold on." Remus interrupted, holding up a hand a taking off his robes. Sirius watched as Remus dumped his robes on the floor and immediately sat up in alarm.

Sirius stood up from his bed and walked over carefully to Remus side. He exchanged glances with James and saw that he was just as aware of Remus' odd mood. Soon, there was a bit of a semi circle around him with Pete James and Sirius all watching him carefully. Remus often became distracted from what he was doing when he was thinking about something serious, and they all knew it too well.

"Remus, you alright?" Sirius hedged.

Remus looked up, breaking out of his deep thought."Hm? Oh yeah fine." He waved their thoughts off and he started pacing across the front of the dorm room. Several times he came to a stop, as though he were about to address something, but then he shook his head and continued to pace. This was fairly standard for Remus, so Sirius' worry disappeared for the moment..

All the pacing, however, was making him feel ill, so he sat back down on the closest bed, which was James', till Remus was ready to share with them whatever was troubling him. Pete and James had the same idea, as James moved towards the wall to lean on it, and Pete perched on the end of his bed.

Eventually, he stopped pacing, and Sirius jumped up. They met eyes, and he recognised the worry hidden beneath the soft grey green flecks.

He cleared his throat and scratched the back of his head. "I think I...We, may have been wrong about Charlotte."

* * *

A/N

 **Hello everyone,**

 **I swear i'm back aha**

 **Even though it has been a 2 month gap since i last posted a chapter, i am most definitely back. There has been A LOT of plot work going on in the background that is more imperative to this story than another chapter at the moment. So far, the first 23 chapters only really feel like an introduction to the story… which is a little scary considering the work count. Anyone down for a million word story fanfiction?! I think i'd be in my mid 40's by the time i'm finished XD**

 **So, thoughts on the chapter? I wanted to gain back Charlotte's characterisation a little bit as i felt like i lost it somewhere along the way and she became this mushy james loving gal. We meet Mandy who we saw a little bit way back in chapter… 8 or something? Wow that was a long time ago! Anyone been around since i posted Chapter 8?**

 **Next Chapter is the exams Bum Bum BUUUUUUUM! Who doesn't love exams?**

 **Hope you are all having a wonderful life, and you all make my day when you leave reviews or send me messages. So much love 3**

 **Nomomom xx**


	24. Chapter 24

**" _Once you've accepted your flaws,_**

 ** _no one can use them against you."_**

 **\- Tyrion Lannister (George R.R Martin )**

Chapter 24

* * *

 **(~Charlotte~)**

She'd often wondered why she always stuck around when Lily got herself into an argument. Perhaps she was waiting for the inevitable moment Lily became utterly speechless. Those were Charlotte's _favourite_ arguments, and not just because it shut her sister up.

Lily _prided_ herself on always having something to say. She might not be the wittiest or funny girl, but she could smack you down intellectually. When Lily had _nothing_ to say, you knew you'd won the argument. That, or you were seconds away from being hexed.

When it came to more aggressive arguments, which would often involve the use of a wand, the logical thing to do, for Charlotte at least, would be to walk away. Not only was she inept in magic, in every sense of the word, she often had no idea who or what she was dealing with. One minute it was a snarky conversation, the next she found herself at the back end of curses. With Lily, it could be anything.

If only she could have kept her mouth _shut_. Really, it was as though Lily begged for their attention. As though she fed on it. Negative attention, positive attention, it was all the same to bloody Lily.

Ironically, she was rather like James in that respect. Though James preferred to be adored than anything.

They had both been dragging their feet behind them, half asleep from hours of study in the library. For once, Charlotte was thankful for Lily's prefect position. Though her sister might not think it proper, it gave her the leniency to stay back a _little_ later. As it were, the halls and classrooms were packed full of anxious students looking to get in some last minute, much-needed study. Charlotte found it the least helpful environment for study, the walls practically buzzing from nervous magic.

Charlotte was listing the ingredients for perfecting polyjuice potion in her head by alphabetical order, then again in order of brewing and once more in a random assortment _just in case_ they decided to be tricky in the exam. Then she went through the steps of brewing it. In her mind's eye, she tried to imagine herself brewing the potion. It made herself uncomfortable when her own imagination seemed to turn on her, and she saw herself heating her potion till it burst from the cauldron, covering herself and the Potions professor in thick black goo.

She really needed a rest, Charlotte decided, as she let a languid hand rub away the headache behind her eyes.

Lily's wand was lit poorly with a Lumos, and they found themselves wandering down one of the few corridors lit with firelight. Thank Godric for that, for Charlotte almost walked into the bricked wall several times. Lily tucked her wand away, grumbling to herself and they quietly continued on, the only noise recognisable being the faint whispering of the paintings and footsteps.

Eventually, they passed by a few students. No doubt Lily noticed the prefect badge on the one leading, as she likely would have thrown a fuss. Or perhaps Lily really was so tired that she hardly noticed.

If only it had been enough to miss the hiss as they walked past.

" _Mudblood"_

Charlotte winced, her body stiff, as though it had been a spell that hit her. Her eyes turned to Lily and her shoulders drooped low, knowing quite well what was coming.

"What did you just call me?" In a flash, Lily has spun on her heel and was more awake than Charlotte had seen her for days. Her brow in a firm line, she glared at the group. Charlotte found herself biting her lip as she studied her sister. She was shaking, and not from the cold.

Charlotte knew how worked up her sister got about this, and mostly for good reason. They were essentially calling her trash. Not worthy of her Magic or the magical core that was within her, simply because her manifestation was not genetic. She'd seen her sister's tears and been through the emotional rollercoaster that started with fury and ended with her cursing in the dark. Somehow, idiots like these had got it into their head that muggleborns _stole_ the magic off Witches and Wizards. As though that was even _possible_.

Never before had she been called it. Blood-traitor to those who saw her walking with Lily, but not exactly muggleborn. One of the very _few_ perks of her upper and lower classmen not knowing a damn thing about her was that she wasn't abused. Perhaps, because she got over the expectations that most muggleborns face when she realised no one really cared about her, the word lost all meaning to her.

That being said, it didn't mean some other shits could call Lily _mudblood._

Three Slytherins and, what Charlotte guessed to be from their scarf, a Ravenclaw stared at her, not really showing much emotion. It wasn't the prefect who had spoken, she could tell that much. What little emotion the Slytherin 5th year conveyed showed how annoyed he was by the interaction.

" _Lily,"_ Charlotte warned, clearly seeing they were outnumbered. Her brows were hardened as she assessed the stances of the students before her. They appeared relaxed and casual, but it was the slight bending of their knees that gave away what their true intent was.

"Oh, nothing interesting I assure you." The Ravenclaw drawled, rolling his eyes and rubbing his hands together in an effort to stay warm. Summer might be just around the black lake, but you wouldn't guess it. The moment the sun disappeared, mist covered the grounds, puffs of warm breath could be seen from students and dew covered every inch of grass. Usually, Charlotte couldn't wait for warm weather, but for the moment, she was delighting in his suffering.

"Why don't you all get back to the dungeons?" Lily snapped, her hand hovering over her hip, not noting, as Charlotte had, that they weren't all snakes.

"Thanks Evans, but I've got it from here. Why don't _you_ head to the tower." The prefect amongst them piped up. His gravelly voice, filled with utter contempt, was more worrisome than the other Slytherins, who simply seemed riled up by the interaction.

"Yeah, haven't you heard...not safe for _your_ kind tonight." They snickered and Charlotte frowned, exchanging a glance with Lily.

"My kind…are you threatening us?" Lily flicked out her wand, as did their apparent opponents. Charlotte sighed and pulled her wand out of her hip holster languidly. For once, she'd actually managed to do some spell work that day with little to no consequences and she could hardly feel the tingling in her chest anymore. Sudden ability to perform magic or not, that didn't mean she was interested in starting a duel or watching Lily give detention to a bunch of 5th years. She could hardly stand at her sister's side simply casting Lumos as defense.

" _Us_? Didn't realise we were in the presence of not one, but two mudbloods." Lily's eyes flittered to Charlotte, who simply gave her a shrug, glaring at their amused chuckles.

One of the Slytherins, a girl Charlotte recognised from her remedial charms class last year, seemed to share her thoughts on the impending duel, and was as pleased with the situation as she was. Her brow was furrowed, and she pulled out her wand but seemed reluctant to do much with it. Perhaps she was as deficient as Charlotte.

"Not a threat per se. Take it as a warning if you want." The prefect answered, a smooth smirk hinting at the corner of his lip. "Stay away from from the courtyard after dark."

"What's in the cou-" Charlotte cut in with an unnecessarily loud ' _for Godric's sake'_ , obtaining the attention of all students in the crowded corridor. Lily glared bloody murder, not that Charlotte could really give a toss about her sister's curiosity.

"Lily, not that I'm not enjoying this immensely" _She wasn't,_ and her acidic dripping tone was proof enough of that. "Can we just go? It's a bunch of bloody Slytherins barely old enough to cast a proper spell let alone cause any real trouble."

She felt the cold sparks in the air, and as always, knew she'd managed to stir the plot. Though Lily was unable to help herself at the start of an argument, Charlotte found herself building it up midway through and it was the exact reason why she and Lily fought so much. Lily couldn't help starting a fight, and Charlotte used curious methods to try and end it.

" _You want to see some proper spells_?"

Charlotte sighed, dragging her bored attention to the smallest of the group, who was red in the face and looked bloody furious.

"Don't you all have studying or..napping to do? Not quite sure what juniors do these days. Do you need us to Lumos your way back to the dingy place you came from? "

"And here i was thinking the girl was mute, but no… the bitch can bite. Do you want to see what i can do when properly encouraged?" The tallest of the bunch said, leaning forward a bit mockingly. The prefect stepped back a pace all too calmly. "You and your _mudblood_ should know better."

She watched, brows furrowed, as Lily's wand was up and ready. Slowly, bringing her wand up aswell, she felt a tingle of something kin to worry roll up her spine. She hadn't managed to land a single spell right in the last few weeks, and they were outnumbered. She was practically useless. "Bollocks." She muttered, looking between them all. Seeing the tallest, who was still watching her with that wide smirk, she shifted her wand towards him, her lips forming around a spell, ready to cast, whether or not it would land.

Before she could say a word, someone stepped in front of her. For a moment, she couldn't help but think how selfless this was of Lily. A swell of warmth she could only recognise as thankful surprise settled in her stomach, and a smile was half on her lips. That was, until she heard the spells being yelled. Her sister was talented, but she wouldn't dare send these spells at students. " _Expelliarmus, Incarcerous!"_

Charlottes wand arm dropped, watching in agitated admiration as Sirius, with his left arm curled around her and his wand hand, black wood gripped between his fingers, sent a murky green light towards one of the students, effectively wrapped them tightly in vine-like ropes. His frame mostly blocked her view, but she could still see that Pete and James were on either side of him, James flanking Lily and Pete slightly behind the group.

Charlotte frowned, and brushed off Sirius' arm, but that didn't deter his wicked grin, nor did it change his enthusiasm as he sent Levicorpus at the tightly wound boy, having him swing dangerously high in the air. James and Pete followed his actions shortly after, until 3 of the 4 students were hanging by their feet.

Pete kept getting distracted, and the boy he had hanging let out squeals as he felt himself fall. The Slytherin girl, who was the fourth student and the only one still standing on her feet, had stepped backwards, her hands up as she assessed that she was on the wrong side of this particular argument. She flicked her wand downwards, signifying she was no longer a threat. Charlotte hadn't really thought she was a threat from the beginning. Dimwitted to be hanging around a bunch of idiots maybe, but not a threat.

Charlotte stepped out of Sirius' protective hold with a frown, not forgetting, even with the Slytherins hanging by their feet in front of her, that both he and James, as well as Remus and Pete had all but shunned her for the better part of a month. It made her want to shove him away, not have him bloody protect her.

"Well lookie here boys, we've got some snakes and a _wittle_ birdie out of bed," Sirius said, looking back towards James and Pete. "Me thinks we should leave them till daylight." As though to magnify his threat, he let his spell drop for a moment, the student letting out a loud yell as he fell but a few centimetres from the stoned floor, before rising back to the ceiling. He'd managed to get the smallest one, who hissed the crude remark to Lily in the first place.

Charlotte watched, mostly with curiosity, as they continued to play with the students, letting them fall just an inch from the ground before they rose back up. Lily snapped several times for them to be let down, but it was as though they couldn't hear her voice.

"Daylight?" Charlotte found herself wincing against the sound of James' voice, rather glad Sirius shoulders still managed to block her view of him. He let out a low laugh, a sort of strange dark amusement in the suffering of his peers. She would have rather be strung up with the Slytherins than ever admit to the traitorous shiver that ran up her spine at the sound. She was sure it was just the cold anyway. Just because she found the bloody boy good looking, didn't suddenly mean she melted at the sound of his voice, low and husky in his attempts to scare a few junior students. "Not sure that's long enough Pads. Plus, someone might find em. We could always leave them hanging over the black lake."

"Now that i like," Sirius said lowly, without laughter.

Charlotte watched, eyes wide as the vines around Sirius' captive tightened. You couldn't hear a thing coming from him, rope around his mouth and all, but Charlotte knew he'd managed to cut off the Slytherin's airways. There was a slight jolt of his spine as he struggled and Charlotte realised she was silently watching a younger student suffocate.

" _Sirius, stop,"_ Charlotte hissed urgently, watching as the Slytherin seemed to go rather red. He was already red, being upside down and all, but she could see the depletion of oxygen, the panic in his eyes, the startled fear as though _just_ realising he couldn't breathe. She shoved Sirius' shoulder, and again after he proved to ignore the prodding at his side.

Seeing no other option, and not enough imagination to make one up on the spot, Charlotte slapped Sirius across the face. Not quite hard enough to do little else than startle him, his narrowed eyes flickered to hers and she knew she'd gotten his attention enough when a tight gasp escaped from the Slytherin. "Sirius, _please_. You are going to _strangle_ him."

It was like a light flickered in his stupid head, and he suddenly realised he was _killing_ a student. The vines loosened and there was a louder gasping sound. His wide eyes turned to Charlotte for a moment, then back towards James and Lily. Thankfully, _for him_ , Lily was quite preoccupied trying to get James and Pete to let the students go by yelling at them. Though he seemed to be more worried about James seeing him.

His grey eyes turned back towards her, and for a moment, they almost looked _black_ with the shadows behind him. His eyes were apologetic, stunned and terrified. Charlotte frowned, and stepped back slightly. He still had the student hanging by his feet, vines wrapped around him. She hadn't thought him _capable_ , hadn't _known_...didn't _realise_ this is how it was. His eyes seemed to beg something. What was it? What was it that he wanted?

She took another step back, a frown never leaving her lips. Whether or not he seemed shocked by his actions, she'd witnessed something that didn't quite reconcile with the memory of his stupid jokes or his loud laugh. The way he hugged or, _Godric_ even how he bloody kissed her then proceeded to apologise when he didn't realise it was her first kiss. She didn't _know_ this Sirius, and it _scared_ her.

"Put them down!" Lily snapped. When she finally realised they weren't going to listen to her, she stormed up to Sirius and shoved against his shoulder. Unfortunately for her, it didn't do much more than making his eyes snap to Lily's. Acting as though he hadn't almost strangled a student, he smirked at Lily's attempts.

Charlotte stepped out to see that her sister was now looking at James with wide begging eyes, still angry, but more hopeful it would work on him; as it certainly _hadn't_ on Sirius. He faltered in what he was doing, by which she could tell when the Slytherin let out a startled curse, muffled by the vine wrapping around his lips.

They all needed to learn how to bloody concentrate when using magic! Even if Charlotte could barely cast a spell, when she _did_ she had the talent to not have her attention driven away at every fleeting moment.

Lily's Slytherin side was once more showing, Charlotte realised. She should have gone to James first with that look, and surely they would have dropped them much sooner. In fact, if Lily had the thought to use that look on James more often, Charlotte was almost certain she could get away with murder. The sodding idiot was clearly smitten.

Charlotte's grip on her wand, which remained out of its holster for the moment, tightened until she was sure the wood's grip handle must have grooves where her fingers were.

James, of course, was first to listen to Lily, turning the Slytherin back around and dropping him to the stone pebbled floor so his back was leaning against the wall. He left the vines wrapped tightly around his stomach, legs and mouth, likely so he wouldn't run off and tell a professor.

She could see Sirius exhale an exasperated sigh and shake his head. Charlotte begrudgingly knew what he was thinking, she thought it too. James was a sucker.

He looked to James, then Pete. Eventually, he shrugged his shoulders and dropped his wand, unceremoniously dropping the Slytherin to the cobblestone. It made a loud cracking sound and Charlotte winced, surprised blood wasn't pouring from the heavily robed figure. But no, he just sat there groaning. Charlotte glared at Sirius, who looked anywhere and at anything other than Charlotte.

Pete was a tad more gentle, reversing his captive _before_ dropping him. He still landed with a thud.

"Honestly, you can't just go waving your wands around!"

"Well if it wasn't me ' _waving my wand'_ it would've been Lottie." She looked up after tucking her wand into her hip holster, a glare on her brow as she shrugged slightly, noticing the multiple eyes watching her waiting for confirmation. She wouldn't deny a hex was on her lips, and would have been directed at one of the younger students, had Sirius not gotten there before her. She couldn't say whether anything would have happened, considering her unreliable magic, but she would have tried.

Lily frowned, clearly disappointed. James grinned and Sirius winked. Ignoring them both, she rolled her eyes. Out of the corner of her eye, she notice Sirius shuffle uncomfortably at the realisation she was ignoring him. He'd obviously been trying to wind her up by calling her _Lottie._ Charlotte wondered, by the way he was acting, if anyone ever ignored him. The was he shifted and winced...It was almost like she was causing him physical pain.

Though she certainly didn't approve of Sirius' methods, she certainly didn't mind the Slytherins tied up against the wall. She actually had _no_ problem with it, and rather preferred it. "Can't we leave them like this?" Charlotte asked, making her thoughts known to the group.

"Let them go." Lily demanded, her voice hard as stone and her glare moving from Charlotte to James, Sirius then Pete. The vines unwrapped themselves, and the Slytherins jumped up and stumbled forward, angry and cautious of the new arrivals who were more action than they were obviously used to.

The Slytherin Sirius had been holding up was probably the only one who stepped back. He practically backpedalled into the wall behind him with wide fearful eyes. A hand was on his head and, Charlotte realised, she'd been right earlier. Sirius had dropped him hard enough that his head was bleeding, quite badly too. He'd _clearly_ learnt his lesson and wouldn't be strolling round the corridors hissing _mudblood_ for quite some time.

"Go back to your bloody common rooms NOW. 15 points off for each of you." Charlotte rolled her eyes. Like the points would mean anything to the Slytherins. They had Godric knows how many more points than any other house. Thanks to the gentlemen in their presence, Gryffindor was coming second last in the house cup, only ahead of Ravenclaw by a few points after Professor Mcgonagall had found out a few Seventh years were selling the answers to the O.W.L.S.

"Yes ma'am," the tallest answered, bowing dramatically at the hip, as though unfazed by his suspension in the air only moments before. He had some nerve, Charlotte decided. He'd been strung up, wandless and hanging from the ceiling a moment ago left to the amusement of a bunch of hex happy Gryffindor's who were well known for their less than moral decisions when it came to Slytherins, and here he was, smack talking a Gryffindor prefect who _everyone_ knew James had a thing for.

He either incredibly _stupid_ or surprisingly brave. Either way, it wasn't _at all_ endearing for a Slytherin.

His dark muddy eyes moved on from Lily then, sliding over to Charlotte. He stood up straight, his black hair flicking back to reveal a lecherous grin that had her cringing back. He reminded her a little of Severus, minus the horribly hooked nose and shoulder length oily hair. "I'll be seeing you later _love_."

Sirius moved to her side, if not slightly in front, jabbing a finger out at the Slytherin."You watch your fu-"

"Can't wait handsome." Charlotte hissed, watching as he, and his friends took cautious steps backwards until they could turn around and run down the hall. That creepy bastard wouldn't leave before winking, the unspoken promise staying with her like a curse. She was _not_ afraid of that prick. Eventually, clearing her throat, she shoved Sirius away from her, clearly annoyed.. Like she needed _him_ to protect her.

"Handsome?" Sirius asked, brow askew. "Mulciber is _many_ things, but he sure as hell ain't that."

"Better looking than you lot I'll say." Charlotte snapped, noticeably avoiding meeting any of their eyes. Without the Slytherin's to divert their attention, she found it stuck solely on her and she shifted uncomfortably, wishing they'd avert their eyes.

"Righto, I think the word you're looking for is thank you." Pete commented with a frown, crossing his arms.

She glared, letting her answer go unspoken. " _That's actually two words."_ Lily muttered to herself, receiving a shove to her shoulder from her sister.

"Love, If you think those snakes were better looking then me, your straight barmy." Charlotte rolled her eyes to Sirius, who looked rather triumphant that she looked over. "That one you called fit had the worst looking teeth i've ever-"

"Do you ever feel burdened by your exceedingly enormous ego?" She hissed, glaring at him openly. She looked him over, toe to head criticising him and ensuring he knew it."You manage to carry it wherever you go, so i can only imagine it weighs on you after a time."

"The adoring women lighten it." Sirius said, smirking. "Rest assure _Lottie,_ i always have someone willing to lighten my load."

"You're disgusting," Charlotte snapped, her cheeks burning in embarrassment at his suggestive tone. A look to the side, and she knew Lily was in a similar state, her mouth gaping slightly.

"No, i'm Sirius _bloody_ Black and my ego is not a problem." He winked at Charlotte, though she could tell it wasn't with his usual amount of humour.

"Never mind that, what are you lot doing ?" Lily interrupted, just as Charlotte was about to spit out curses. She gave her sister a reprimanding stare, one Charlott returned with a dark glare, challenging to the unseen eye. Lily knew quite well she was being told to butt out, and she did so by raising her chin and looking away.

Sirius turned to look at Pete, who gave a wide-eyed look to James.

"Studying?"

"Dinner."

"Nothing really."

Sirius, Pete and James all said, their voices blending together in an obvious feat of lies.

Charlotte rolled her eyes, expecting nothing _but_ this from the idiots. "Convincing," Charlotte snapped, leaning back against the stone wall, feeling the smooth rocks massage her aching back.. None of them really gave her a moment of their attention as they all seemed rather caught up in trying to work out just _what_ they'd been doing out of the common room so late at night.

" _Well, you see… it started of with dinner. Dinner in the great hall. Remus was…well he's a bit out of sorts."_

" _Ill!"_

" _Ill, right. Thanks Pete. Yes, Remus' has a bit of a cold. Winter an all… Well, after we caught up with Remus, we headed to the Library to study."_

" _Which does not explain why we are in the east section of the castle…"_

" _Right you are prongs. Library was full."_

" _Completely chockers."_

" _So, we were just heading to the abandoned classroom on the 5th level. You know that one, don't you Lottie? Anyway, we had been heading that way when we heard a bunch of slytherins talking amongst themselves. Suspicious as anything we decided to follow them. And well, here we are!"_

Preoccupied, Charlotte found herself being analysed by her twin, who sported a somewhat worried expression as she stared at her sister. "What is your problem?' Lily hissed under her breath, completely unaware of Sirius' poor explanation.

Charlotte lifted a brow and gave her sister a tight lipped smirk as she shrugged. What had Lily been expecting? This was _her_. This is how Charlotte always acted. Just because their friendship had festered like a mould over the past few months didn't mean she couldn't get rid of it just as easily as it came. If Charlotte had not been there, she was sure that Lily would have stood in her place, mouthing off at Sirius.

Perhaps it was because she had pleaded with Lily to be kinder to James. Completely unlike Charlotte, she wasn't surprised when Lily was a tad cautious of her request. This, _This,_ however, was normal. Sarcastic, cold and a quick temper. This was Charlotte. What was Lily so bloody surprised about?

Lily turned away again, and looked between James, Sirius and Pete quickly.

"Well, thank you for sorting them out, but I'm going to have to ask you to get back to the common room." Lily said with a huff, as though just realising she and Charlotte were _also_ student's out of the common room past curfew.

She was, after all, still trying to squirm her way into the head girl position. Wouldn't be proper to be found with the unlikely sorts of Potter and Black past curfew, especially with their reputation around the school. It was a wonder Remus managed to sustain his prefect position. "Won't exactly be able to explain why we are _all_ out of bed."

Charlotte paused, watching as Lily offered a small, albeit awkward, smile to them. Not only had she, of all things, _thanked them_ she'd also managed to make a joke. A fairly standard Lily joke, which wasn't particularly funny, but a joke, nonetheless. Was she trying for Charlotte's benefit…or was there something else going on?

"S-sorry, say again?" James asked, stepping forward and almost stuttering over his words when he tripped on his robe.

The action caught Charlottes attention and for the first time since they had made their dramatic appearance, Charlotte allowed herself to look at James. _Really_ look at him.

She'd managed to actively avoid his gaze and presence, ensuring she was at least half a classroom away from him, or down the opposite end of the Gryffindor table in the great hall. _Sure_ , she did the same with Sirius, Remus and Pete, but she was skeptical enough to know it was for a different reason entirely.

She was slightly ashamed to admit, on more than one occasion, to running back up the dormitory stairs when she'd seen him in the common room, or taking a completely different _and ridiculous_ path to a class, simply because she could see he was walking the same way. This had gone on since she'd had the stupid idea to lock James in his own dorm and the startling events that followed. Because _that_ had gone so well. Before then, he'd avoided her like she was diseased, and now, she didn't give him, or the lot of them really, the chance to avoid her.

He stood stunned, eyes wide and his lips parted, shrouded by stubble on his chin, jaw and upper lip. Thick wavy hair sitting unmanageably over his right eye the back of his unruly hair sticking up in impossible angles. Glasses sat perfectly on his nose, and his hazel eyes were dark without daylight. She noted the bags under his eyes, and slight paling of the skin, deciding it didn't manage to lessen his looks at all. He was shockingly attractive and Charlotte was suddenly reminded why she'd avoided meeting his eyes these past few days. It was to avoid situations like _this_. Stupid, ridiculous situations where she was _reminded_ that the bloody feeling in her stomach was because of him.

Her chest contracted painfully, and for the briefest of moments, his surprised eyes caught hers and she swore she stopped breathing. It was fleeting, and his eyes were on Lily once more. It was the hope within them that snapped her back to reality. His eyes lit up, and a smile was on his lips replacing shock with stunned admiration. A glaze appeared over his eyes, and she knew he was gone into whatever other-world he travelled to when thinking, or when he was around, Lily.

 _Stupid girl,_ Charlotte berated, dark eyes flitting aside as her cheeks lit up. Anger swelled in the very pit of her stomach. Anger at James and his stupid good looks, angry that once more she couldn't manage to keep her thoughts in check. There was an anger there for Lily as well, but she knew it was illogical. She was truly only doing what Charlotte had asked. If anything, she should probably _thank_ her sister. Whatever Lily was doing, clearly warmed whatever cold snap had gone over him. In prior weeks, he wouldn't dare look at her for more than a moment without glaring.

Stormy grey eyes followed her every movement, every _angry_ shaken breath and alternating expressions. The same stormy grey eyes that had ignored her for weeks and were now narrowed, his lips in a tight line frowning at her. His sharp features were stuck in cautious assessment, and _godric_ was she glad he didn't know what the blush on her cheeks was about. Sirius was surprisingly perceptive when he wanted to be.

She glared at him, forcing his eyes away and the focus back onto Lily.

"Lily, you just thanked them!" Charlotte snapped, throwing her hands up in defeat. Not the appreciation she probably she probably should have gotten from Charlotte, but considering she didn't exactly want James' friendship at the moment, it seemed only right to be pissed at her sister. Or, at least, confused.

Very un-Lily like, she rolled her eyes and tucked her wand away. "Of course i thanked them. Though we are older, they outnumbered us 2-1. You're rubbish at charms and defence and I'm not much better." Charlotte received a harsh glare when Lily heard the bare whisper of _not better at all actually_. Lily could stand a lot, but if you attack her intellect, you'd best be ready to face her wrath. "We could have been in real trouble. Though i didn't approve of their methods, the intention was valiant." Lily turned back towards them again, looking to Pete, then Sirius who had his brows raised in surprise, and then James. "Thank you."

" _And i wonder whose fault that 'trouble' would have been."_ Charlotte mumbled, taking a step back from the group to look down the corridor where the slytherins had ran.

"You're welcome." Charlotte looked over for a moment, eyes flicking to James who had a soft smile on his lips. A look towards Lily, who gave a gentle nod, and she once more felt the bitter taste of something she knew was jealousy. It was a sticky, sickly feeling in her stomach. Making her feel heavy and incredibly stupid and petty.

She looked away and sighed, feeling a little lightheaded and more than a little disappointed in herself. Shaking her head, she wrapped her robes a little more tightly around her, sticking her hands into her jeans pockets and trying to distract herself from the casual conversation James had struck with her sister.

Sirius, who'd pulled himself out of the conversation, and was leaning against the brick wall, his hand twirling what suspiciously looked like a cigarette between his fingers. Charlotte had never seen him smoke before, so she half believed that it was just a rolled bit of parchment. He watched the conversation ahead of him with interest, as though sitting at home watching the telly. His surprise and his smile were gone, replaced by a scowl.

Charlotte stepped in front of him, watching as he tucked his hands in his pockets and put on a smirk like a heavy jacket. It weighed him down heavily, and she wondered how often he did that when she wasn't noticing. Concealing his actual feelings. "You want to tell me what the hell all that was about, _Love?"_

For a moment, the smirk disappeared. Just a moment, and he seemed to recollect when he'd had a Slytherin hanging from the ceiling, completely at his mercy. She wondered if the crease on his brow that appeared for a moment was guilt, worry or even _fear._ As quick as it came, it disappeared. The mask was up again, and he pushed himself off the wall stepping a little too close to Charlotte for her liking. She took a step, and then another back. He watched it carefully, something in his jaw twitching at the act.

"Protecting fair maiden's from treacherous snakes. What else?" he raised a brow and his suave expression was unwavering, even through her glare.

"So what, you're just going to beat up any Slytherin that crosses your path? _Strangle a few juniors?_ Come on Sirius, you're better than that!"

"They were asking for it, and yeah, why not. Might catch a few Death Eaters in the process." Charlotte's glare dropped a moment, and his smirk was a little less suggestive as though just realising the serious turn of their conversation It hadn't really occurred to Charlotte that their may be Death Eaters in Hogwarts. After all, they were just kids right?

After seeing that Slytherin hanging by his feat, the oxygen leaving his discoloured lips, and Sirius, who'd been almost unrecognisable in his frenzy, she could hardly believe otherwise. If Sirius, who'd she'd always seen as someone too good, someone too fun and immature to even participate in something as comical as a group of hooded figures ' _cleansing the magical community'_ , switch so suddenly to the man she'd seen dripping the life out of a child...how could she not believe there to be Death Eaters in their school?

Her mind flickered a moment, going through a mental list of all the Slytherin's in their 5th, 6th and 7th year in Hogwarts. Godric, half of them she knew to be capable of slightly immoral magic, as shown by a few students winding up in the medic wing with questionable curses on their persons. Their filthy language flooded the halls, and _mudblood_ was hardly the worst of it.

 _Were they all Death Eaters?_

If she had to guess, it wasn't just Slytherin's either. Tonight was a good enough example of Ravenclaws fraternising with the snakes. Charlotte didn't like to think she was prejudice against houses, but when you have annoying prats like the ones they met today, it was hard to see the good qualities of Slytherins.

If she was honest, she hadn't given the war a single thought for many months. So cooped up in her exams, in her animagus study and trying to be friends with James and Sirius, she'd completely forgotten about what was happening, right now, in the magical world.

It was evident, now more than ever, that what Sirius had done, was very _very_ stupid. He shouldn't have so openly threatened them. Surely if it was just a little bit of child's play…pranking on fellow students, it wouldn't have mattered. Even fighting back against the Slytherins wouldn't have been that bad considering they'd threatened her and Lily first. Sirius had gone and almost bloody killed one of them. If _he_ wasn't a death eater, then he would have told one of his Slytherin friends. It would spread like fiendfyre that Sirius Black, heir to the noble house of Black, had almost killed a Slytherin student. Charlotte knew what went on in that bloody house before the Potter's took Sirius in. Or, at least… she knew enough.

 _Stupid, stupid boy._

"And if you end up dead? Huh, is a few bloody Slytherins worth it then?" Charlotte snapped in a quiet voice, shoving his shoulder. His smirk dropped and he took a step back as he took her physical and verbal hit. They wouldn't have hurt, but her words clearly did. He shook his head slowly, as though trying to wipe something away.

"We all _die_ Charlotte." Charlotte took a step back, her lips parted in shock. He watched her for a moment before shrugging and suddenly that infuriating smirk was back. "So, how's my favourite Evans? Having any trouble with your magic lately?"

"What are you playing at Black?" Charlotte asked breathlessly, stepping closer into his personal space. He looked uncomfortable, and oddly curious at what she was going to say. "You ignore me for weeks then act all casual around me. Almost _kill_ a student, and just...just joke around. Just like nothing is wrong, right? What is wrong with you?"

He shrugged again, looking away. "Nothing is wrong love. lighten up."

"Lighten up?" Charlotte snapped, gaining the attention of her peers and sister. "Honestly Sirius, what the _fuck_ is wrong with you."

Charlotte left him then, and grabbed Lily. She tugged on her arm, ignoring her sister's protests until they exited the hallway. She didn't hear whatever hushed babble went on behind her, and she told herself she didn't care.

* * *

(~Charlotte~)

Since that night, Charlotte suddenly found that no matter where she went, and how hard she tried avoiding Sirius and James, he always managed to bump into one, or the other, several times each day. Of course, they shared a common room, the great hall and almost _every_ class together, however she had hoped it wouldn't mean every single instance they _might_ be in the same room together. Considering they had exams, she had hoped she would be alleviated from their presence for 2 weeks.

One morning, she'd dragged herself out of bed to the great hall, surprisingly all without having Lily yell at her that she would miss breakfast. From the moment she'd sat down and reached across the Gryffindor table to get herself a cup of coffee, Sirius plopped across from her with a wide smile, an obvious intention to strike a conversation.

Charlotte had to hand it to herself, she'd made her coffee, ate a cinnamon scroll and flipped through several pages of the daily prophet some other Gryffindor left behind, all whilst ignoring the incessant man across from her. Eventually, he got the idea and moved further down the table to chat up some girls in the year below them. She watched him for a minute or two, a notable scowl on her lips, before she finished off her coffee, grabbed another cinnamon scroll and left the great hall.

Not two steps out the door, and she ran straight into James. He cracked some quick joke about women throwing themselves at him, but when she'd stepped back and glared, he realised that it was Charlotte and not just a random student. He awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck, ran a hand through his hair and moved out of the way so she could continue on her way. She had been expecting him to stop and talk to her, but didn't argue against the silence when she walked away.

That was generally how the first week of their exams went.

Sirius spent wasted time trying to earn her favour when really, he should be studying. After the day he'd come to her 'rescue', she wasn't quite sure how to act around Sirius. So, she decided on a silent fury to show how pissed she was at him ignoring her for weeks, her shock and disgust in his behaviour towards a younger student and her general distaste for his presence when she was trying to _study_.

James was distant, but seemed to try and convey a friendly nature with his distant smiles. He was certainly distracted with Lily, who'd come to tutor him whenever he bothered her enough that her own study became impossible. Charlotte watched with her own eyes as he fell into a trance in her sister's presence. It was an odd thing to perceive, and she wondered if that was how love worked. If so, she wasn't exactly sure if she ever wanted to be in love…

Half the time, James acted like a complete dunce without realising it. He was by no means dumb, but seemingly turned into a mindless fool around the red headed girl who cleared captured his attention so fully, that he'd likely fall into the black lake if he wasn't watching where he was walking.

Perhaps irrationality had struck her harder than the stinging hex in the defence practical exam, _which hurt like a bitch mind you_ , because instead of feeling grateful or relieved or _godric forbid_ joyful about her 'friends' obvious attempts in making amends, all it managed to provoke was Charlotte's ire. Circe, she still longed for their friendship. Longed for it more than she dared believe, but their abrupt coldness and blatant exclusion had forced her to be petty about accepting their advances.

The way she figured, they deserved to work for her favour. Making her feel like hippogriff shit for weeks deserved more than a slap on the hand and a hug, accepting the lot of them back like old friends. She was half tempted to hex them, _but_ her wand was acting up again. She might hex herself in a rebound if she wasn't careful.

It surprised her a little bit. Charlotte maybe cold and thoughtless and Godric, even foolish at times… but she'd always left the pettiness to Lily. Or, well...at least she'd thought that.

She growled, the sounds drilling into the crevices within each book, scroll and tome in the library.

 _Charms_ she was meant to be studying bloody _charms_. With a little under 3 hours before the practical exam, now was not the time to get distracted. Gordic help them if Charlotte managed to _fail_ her exams because of their stupid attempts to sway her.

Though, if she really thought about it...It was mostly _Black_ who'd done all the sweet talking. All James' smiles did was make her scowl and hurry away before the pinking of her olive cheeks could be mistaken as a blush.

Her eyes fluttered back to her textbook, and she held her wand steady in her hands once more. Banishing the stormy and hazel eyed wizards from her mind, she mouthed the spell written in swirly dialect a few times before doing a little flick of her wand, not expecting anything. She knew the incantation, and the hand movement, however actually casting the bloody thing was a little more difficult. She also wanted to try and perfect the hand movement before she went and actually _tried_ the bloody spell. They had been given the choice between a simple non-verbal spell, or a quite difficult verbal charm. Having no choice, Charlotte reluctantly chose the verbal charm.

She hadn't bothered with non-verbal spells since their very first lesson on it. Though difficult, a fair few of the highest ranking students could cast a Wingardium Leviosa and manage to _hover_ their books for a few moments. The room had felt heavy with unspent magic, but Charlotte felt _nothing_. She knew it would be useless, so didn't waste her time on it.

Sirius and James had boisterously announced they would be doing the non-verbal. Well Charlotte thought they could shove their non-verbal spell, and their bloody pride, up their asses.

Remus had kept quiet, but she knew he likely was going to go for the practical option of verbal. Lily had spent the better half of a month working on her nonverbal, and she really had no bloody idea what Pete was doing.

With a sigh, she shut her textbook, and shoved it into her bag. She pushed back her chair and walked out of the library, tightening her scarf under her chin when the bitter cold hit any bit of exposed skin it could find.

Walking with a slight shiver from the sharp breeze, she made her way to the courtyard, and sat slightly behind one of the big old trees there. Thankfully, because of exams and the ridiculous cold, the outside grounds were practically empty besides a few students hurrying to get to their next exam. The _usually_ soft ground was wet from dew, and mud stuck to her robes and shoes, but she was too tired and cold already to try and cast a warming charm. Besides, if she spent all her energy before she even tried the bloody spell, she'd have no hope of passing her exam.

She hadn't used used her wand for almost 3 days now, simply in preparation for this _bloody_ exam. She hoped that not doing any magic for several days would release a sudden burst of talent, allowing her to pass her 6th year with a sliver of decency. She knew bloody Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures failed her in _that_ department.

Pulling out her wand, she rolled it between her two hands, as though warming it from the cold would help her deliver some proper magic. Satisfied by the warm wood, she cleared her throat and aimed it at the rock sitting just in front of her. Taking a slow breath, she made herself ready.

"Disillusio." She tapped the rock, and the rock remained completely visible. "Oh bloody hell."

" _Now students_ ," she remembered hearing Professor flitwick's scratchy voice in the back of her mind when they'd practised this _exact_ spell only the week before. " _You have got to remember, your magic was never in your wand. We all have a magic core within us, the wand simply stabilises the outpouring of magic so we can direct it how we wish. Those who are doing nonverbal, don't simply say the incantation in your mind and wave your wand around. You need to speak to your wand, as though you were telling it what to do. Guide it to do what you need to do. Think of it as your friend if it helps."_

Flitwicks voice had faded into the background as the table in front of her's began to bicker not-so-quietly to themselves.

" _Oi, James. Snivellus finally has a friend. What a shame it's just a hunk of wood."_

She'd noticed James sitting still for a few moments, contemplating Sirius' amused snickering and the glare he was getting from the next bench over from Lily. He might have hunched down to say it to James alone, but it was in no way _just_ for his amusement. He had a few Gryffindors around him laughing along, and received a vicious glare from Snape who sat on the other side of the classroom.

" _Well isn't that nice for him. Come on Pads, focus on your bloody spell. If you do, you might actually get it bloody right."_

His reply was sarcastic, and surprising to everyone listening in, simply waiting for James to continue on the banter. Sirius muttered a _whatever_ to himself and Charlotte didn't miss the was James actively avoided looking at Lily. Had he of looked over, he would have seen her contemplative look as she regarded him. Eventually, she smiled.

Charlotte had looked away after that.

" _Those of you practising the Disillusionment Charm remember we aren't trying to make the cup disappear. We aren't banishing it, or sending it elsewhere nor are we making it invisible. What we are doing is creating an illusion to hide the cup, nothing more. It will take the appearance of whatever is behind it. Depending on how good you cast the charm, you may be able to continue this illusion, no matter what angle you view it from. Others will only be from the angle which the charm was cast. When you cast it, i want you to imagine the cup blending into the background, see the colours of the books or desk take over the cup. Now, everyone! At the ready!"_

Right, all she had to do was make the rock disappear into the muddy grass it was sitting on. No real hard feat. There wasn't anything obstructing the view or making it more difficult. Just mud and grass. Simple enough.

"Right," she muttered, clearing her throat and focusing on the round rock that was slowly giving her a headache. " _Disillusio_!"

Nothing.

" _Remember, we aren't trying to make it disappear"_ Charlotte said with a growl, quoting her professor as she glared at the rock. She closed her eyes, and levelled her anger. " _Disillusio"_

She jumped up from the ground, feeling the earth beneath her furrow in and shift from moisture. She didn't bother to wipe the mud off her backside, even though she knew very well it'd likely be all over her ass. Her attention was on the bloody rock which had not changed even a little bit in colour.

In raging fury, she aimed her wand at the rock, not caring if a professor or students were to come past and see her odd display of clear anger at the solitary rock sitting in the mud.

" _Incendio!"_

Nothing.

" _Aguamenti!"_

Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Never _anything_.

" _Engorgio! Reducto! Bombarda! Wingardium leviosa! Lumos!"_ By the end of it, she only saw red and she was screeching loudly, her voice at an unnaturally loud level. She was thankful for the lack of students, the lack of teachers because she was sure she looked absolutely batty, screaming incantations at a rock.

" _Charlotte?"_

Charlotte swung around, her furious expression and shaking wand armed pointed directly at a tall thin girl with wide terrified eyes. Mandy let out an uncharacteristic squeal and threw her hands up as though to shield herself. Charlotte felt herself freeze in shock, then let out a loud horrified breathe as her wand arm dropped to her side. Her chest heaved, and she fell back onto the swampy ground, finding the cold rather comforting.

" _Fucking_ Godric, you scared me half to death." Charlotte grit out, trying not to glare at the girl whose only real fault had been arriving at a bad time. Her heart was still racing, and she felt a bruising headache rise from her neck all the way over her head to her eyes. Anxiously, she rubbed her brow, as though willing it away by that simple action.

She finally looked to Mandy, who seemed to be rather relieved and now had an amused and obviously hesitant smile on her lips. "Alright?"

Mandy let out an embarrassed laugh, shaking her head as she relaxed against the tree, seemingly unconcerned by the dirt. Charlotte considered the fact that she could likely cast a scourgify without any real damage, among other spells she'd just seen Charlotte pathetically attempt.

"Exams," She answered with a shrug of her shoulders, corner of her lip quirked and her cheeks flushed.

Charlotte nodded absently, a tad uncomfortable in the silence. She was surprised Mandy had decided to sit down, especially after being at the wrong end of her wand with the clear intention of shooting a charm or two her way. Not that Mandy knew how deplorable she was at spellwork of course.

Hesitantly, as though she feared Charlotte would bite her, she asked; "Wand giving you a bit of grief?"

Charlotte gave her a look and pulled out her wand, letting it sit across her knees. It was a fairly heavy piece of wood, and it shifted for a bit before it sat still. She leaned back, looking at it with a frown. "Usually it isn't _this_ bad. I don't get it."

Yes, her spellmanship was bad. Casting a bloody _lumos_ , however, shouldn't give her a migraine! She wasn't a bloody muggle or squib. Only a year ago, and she'd be able to cast lumos without any trouble at all. A couple of _months_ ago and she would have been able to cast it.

"Wands are temperamental," Mandy said with a small shrug, pulling her long legs underneath her chin. She pulled out her own wand from her pocket and held it up in front of her, turning it slowly. It was white, and had a particularly interesting handle which had grooves in all the right places to hold it comfortably. A practical wand from the look of it. "This particular _stick_ thinks it's funny to shoot out glitter when i haven't used it weeks at a time. Should have seen my dorm room after summer. Took me the entire afternoon to clean it all up."

She shook her head, blushing at Charlotte's soft laughter, as she tucked her wand back into her robe pocket.

"Well, at least it is performing magic. I think it's less to do with the wand, and more to do with the witch." Charlotte looked at her wand, picking it up with a sigh, twirling it in her fingers for a few seconds, before tucking it away. She wasn't going to attempt any spells with Mandy around, and not just for her pride's sake. If all her unspent magic managed to expel in one directed blow, who knew what the impact would be.

"What do you mean?" Mandy hedged, leaning forward.

Charlotte sighed, leaning back against the tree directly opposite the tall awkward girl in front of her. She didn't know her very well, and unlike the regrettable opening to her friendship with James and Sirius, she wasn't about to lay her whole life down, bare for someone she didn't even know to judge freely. "Nothing, just...something i think about sometimes."

The silence dragged on, and Charlotte was just about to stand up and make her way to a different part of the castle she could attempt her spells with some privacy, when Mandy piped up.

"Your _friends_ managed to severely piss off the 5th year Slytherins," Mandy said, a cough of her laugh escaping as she shook her head. Charlotte frowned, wondering who she meant. Mandy, seeing her confusion, clarified. "Black, Potter and Pettigrew."

"Right." Charlotte said shortly, not bothering to argue that that weren't _really_ her friends at the moment. The knowledge that James, Sirius and Pete were hassling some 5th year Slytherins was more of a concern. She dared to wonder if it was the same 5th years she and Lily had run into a few days before. "How'd they manage that?" Charlotte asked hesitantly, trying to give an expression of indifference.

"Well, lets just say the Slytherins had been partying a _little_ too hard these past few months. They crammed in a ridiculous amount of study the last few days. After breakfast, all but 3 had foggy memories of the past few days, and were wondering about the corridors dazed and confused. Madam Pomfrey says they were slipped temporary memory wipe potions." Mandy shrugged her shoulders and hugged her knees.

Charlotte cleared her throat awkwardly. "And you simply assu-"

"Oh, who else would it be!" Mandy said with a laugh.

She had a fair point. It wasn't often other students pulled off shit like that in the middle of the school year, and didn't get caught out by teachers. James, Sirius, Remus and Pete had a talent for leaving no trails, and skirting dangerously close to the line separating morality. This seemed to be one of those times.

She wondered, if they'd done it for another reason entirely. If what Mandy was saying was indeed true, it most likely meant the Slytherins they ran into had no recollection of the other night. As far as she knew, only Charlotte was aware of the slightly disturbing scene Sirius had enacted, and she'd be rather surprised if he'd decided to share it with James. She knew how much he adored his mate, to the point where he thought of him as a brother. If this was the actions of Sirius, he must of convinced the rest of the boys that it was simply a prank. Perhaps he'd even acted alone.

Mandy seemed to be watching her intently, and Charlotte frowned, blocking her expression from conveying her thoughts. Clearing her throat again, she smiled. "I heard they have a few openings in quidditch for all the 7th years leaving next year."

"Are you thinking of joining?"

Charlotte laughed, properly this time. To the point where it startled the girl across from her. She didn't have a laugh like Sirius, but it was loud enough to gain the attention of people around her. "Hardly, i was more thinking you should try out for a position." Charlotte answered, her lips allowing a wide smile as she thought of herself on a broom, trying to bat away a bludger or, _godric forbid_ , chase down the snitch. Wrapped up in all the quidditch gear and those ridiculous looking goggles. " _Me play quidditch"_ She laughed to herself again, and felt herself relax.

Mandy's cheeks were red, clearly embarrassed. Not that it was her fault. She didn't know that the last time Charlotte flew was with James on the back of his broom, and the time before that was over 3 years ago. She was sure, even if she'd kept up with flying over the years, she'd never have the guts to play quidditch. It was a highly physical sport, and Charlotte wasn't sure she was built for that sort of thing.

All her thoughts about Quidditch eventually led her to James, Quidditch captain and an individual she'd actively tried avoiding and thinking about. Sighing, she closed her eyes and let her head fall back to the bark of the tree.

"Maybe...I'll think on it. Think you can get a good word in with my pain in the ass captain who just so happens to be your friend?" Charlotte gave the barest hint of a smile, recognising that Mandy was only joking, but knowing at the same time she likely would _really_ appreciate it if she did. Afterall, she'd made it quite clear her thoughts on him the first time Charlotte met her.

"The captain and i aren't on the best of terms." Charlotte said, not letting her smile drop, lest she frown. Now wasn't the right time to think about her hazel eyed problem. Opening her eyes, and rubbing her forehead, she realised that she and Mandy had been sitting here for quite some time. The sun was declining, and that meant to the study time she had to prepare for her practical was slowly slipping away. Sitting up, she looked at Mandy and winced. "Listen, i really need to get back to this…"

"Oh, no worries. Do you need me to leave?" Mandy rushed, her cheeks alight and eyes wide. She looked to the left of Charlotte, likely only just realising that she _did_ have a text book open, and her wild attack of spells earlier had something to do with her academics, not her losing her mind.

Charlotte bit her lip, coming to the realisation that if she moved, or Mandy left, all she would do is continue to blindly shoot spells at a rock. She wasn't seemingly getting any better and her practical exam was a matter of hours away. She would be wasting her time and would come into her exam as unprepared as before.

"Well, i guess how are you in charms?" Charlotte asked a surprised Mandy, pushing herself up from the mud. It clung to her in all the areas she'd sat down on, and she knew it would take several rounds of casting tergeo on her robes before it was properly clean again. They weren't her school robes, but they were the warmest winter robes she had, and she almost regretted not attempting a few charms before she sloshed her way in the mud. Now she'd have to beg her sister to clean her robes for her. _Brilliant_.

Looking down at Mandy, she seemed to be deliberating her answer.

"What's say you keep your wand away from my face and you will find out." Mandy answered, a surprisingly coy smile on her face as she stood up, crossing her arms against her chest.

"Deal," Charlotte said with a smirk, nodding towards the courtyard passage. The moved out from underneath the trees, seeking the solace of slight cover that the walkway provided. They walked in silence out of the school grounds, deciding to have a bit more space if Mandy was going to help Charlotte with her spellwork.

Charlotte wasn't sure it would be any help, nor could she say if they were wasting their time, but it had been quite amusing having the timid girl instruct her. For the first 20ish minutes at least. They had made their way towards the black lake and sat on the wide dock that sat across the corner of edge of the lake. It was almost completely silent this far away from the castle, and other than a few students walking the grounds, it was virtually just Mandy and Charlotte.

Mandy had started simple, asking her what spells she would be using in her practical exam. Alas, they weren't spells that Mandy herself had perfected yet, but she was still determined to help Charlotte nonetheless. She'd then asked what Charlotte's dilemma was when attempting to cast the spells, having the decency not to bring up her ridiculously pitiful attempts at a large variety of spells, none of which made any changes to the bloody stone that she'd been aiming at.

Charlotte was as honest as she cared to be. She could feel her magic swelling, churning and burning inside her, begging to escape. When she went to cast a spell, it made her feel completely empty. She felt like a muggle yelling out ridiculous words.

After a moment where Mandy deliberated just _what_ that could mean, she had started Charlotte on some first year spells. A simple _Wingardium Leviosa_ in hopes of levitating a stick that Mandy placed in the middle of the dock. Sadly, she'd been at it for almost a half-hour, and the stick remained exactly where it was 30 minutes prior. Soon, she and Mandy were no longer joking around, Charlotte's change in mood rather apparent to the both of them.

"Why do you keep screwing up your face? You really don't need to concentrate so hard," Mandy commented from her perch that she'd made, transfiguring a rock into a stool. She hadn't done it to impress Charlotte, but it had nonetheless. If she'd been the slightest bit hesitant that Mandy was actually good at charms, it disappeared with the rock-turned-stool. Though she'd only been at it 30 minutes, Charlotte was beyond exhausted and the decreasing weather didn't help.

"I'm not doing it on purpose." Charlotte sighed, throwing her wand arm down and closing her eyes a moment. As was per normal the past few months, a piercing headache rose from the back of her neck to her eyes, almost making her completely incapacitated. Her chest ached, and numbly she rubbing her palm across it as though the soothing action did anything other than put pressure on her ribcage.

"Charlotte, you look like you're in bloody pain. Just relax."

"I can't relax, my exam is in 2 hours and i _am in pain."_ Charlotte growled, glaring at Mandy who winced and looked down at her feet, as though realising she'd overstepped. She hadn't, and Charlotte knew that. Godric, she was trying to _help_ her. Virtually a complete stranger that, so far had almost passed out on her, blasted her with a spell and was now cursing at her every few minutes.

Sighing, Charlotte rubbed her forehead and offered Mandy an olive branch in the form of an explanation. "If i try using my magic for too long, i get headaches. If it's around exam time i am generally deficient, probably something to do with the constant studying and lack of sleep. To top it off, i get waves of dizziness and chest pains whenever it so fancies. Lucky for me, i currently have all three simultaneously."

Mandy was oddly quiet for quite some time. "That's... not normal."

Charlotte scoffed, and nodded her head. Godric, she knew it wasn't bloody normal. She didn't have to be in the ministry of magic studying the principles of magical cores to know hers was pitiful. She verged on being a squib, and more and more she feared her teachers would find out about her lack of skills, and send her back to Cokeworth. She'd end up in a muggle school, surrounded by muggle teenagers and muggle teachers, learning about english and maths and british history. She'd end up in financial services, an _accountant_ like her dad or _Godric forbid_ , a nurse like her mum.

She supposed, considering her parents were muggles, that it wouldn't have been half bad to go to a muggle school, if she hadn't first experienced the wonder and excitement of Hogwarts. Though she couldn't say that every year bore memories that she'd think of fondly in the years to come, she was at home in the magical community, and she could never go back. They'd have to obliviate her memories since she'd gotten her Hogwarts letter for that to happen.

Which is why she'd tried hard to stop drinking, or at least cut back to the point where Lily wouldn't threaten telling their parents. It was why she tried so desperately in her exams, to stay ahead. It was why she lay away in the middle of the night, completely conscious and still, her eyes wide in fear. She allowed herself those few moments to completely reconcile with her predicament. If her emotions got the worst of her, or her monthly demons reared its bitchy head, she'd wait till Lily was fast asleep before sobbing until sleep claimed her as well. When she was quite finished feeling sorry for herself, she'd get up and try to bloody do magic again.

Her charms exam, her friendship with Sirius, her predicament with James, their stupid deal...all of it meant nothing if she couldn't do magic.

"Charlotte, my mums a medi-witch. She works in st Mungo's hospital. You sound like you ha-"

"I'm fine, honestly." Charlotte interjected, a half-smile on her face when she realised how far off her thoughts had taken her. She really needed a nap…

"How can you say that when the effects of whatever is wrong is plain to see?" Mandy blurted, standing up from the rock. Charlotte was slightly stunned, not expecting her to be so...strong in her resolve. She barely knew Charlotte, why would she care so much for someone she only just met and would likely forget the next day? "You could have a serious illness and you're not addressing it! What do your parents say. What does Lily say?"

She rolled her eyes then, walking to the docks edge. " _What does Lily say…_ " Charlotte mumbled, tossing a stone towards the black lake, watching as it bounced across the water's edge, in a skimming type fashion, before falling into the depths of the lake. "Lily is as blind as a bloody ashwinder. Even if she wasn't, she wouldn't give a toss."

Gritting her teeth, she grabbed another rock, and gave it a bit of a harder throw. She watched with a frown as it plunked into the water with a splash.

"Listen, let me owl my mum your symptoms. Maybe you can take a day off to go in fo-"

"Mandy…" Charlotte said slowly, with a sigh. She was beyond weary now, and was beginning to regret even telling her anything. Why was she so bloody curious? Why was she so certain something was _wrong_ with Charlotte? Her impaired ability wasn't something someone could simply prescribe a bloody potion for and suddenly she was one more magically able. She'd come to terms with her abilities weeks ago. She didn't need this right now. What she needed was some peace to study for her bloody practical that was likely only an hour or two away. Charlotte rubbed her forehead, feeling a headache come on.

"She'd really be happy to help. Seriously, i can owl her tonight asking-"

" _Mandy"_ Charlotte tried again lowly, her eyes shut tightly. The girls frantic pacing was driving her mental. Like a mouse scampering across a wooden floor, making those scratching noises that that itched the back of her mind. She rubbed her forehead slowly, taking deep breaths when she could feel anxiety and anger well up inside her.

"-to set up an appointment. She wouldn't mind, in fact she'd probably be a little relieved to have me bring a friend over." Mandy laughed, and Charlotte missed the complement, her hand swinging down in a feat of utter frustration.

She didn't need an appointment, she didn't need a medi-witch and she didn't want someone who she'd only just met making decisions about her health because she was shit at magic.

"Godric Mandy, i'm not _dying_. I just have a bloody headache! Would you just leave it be!" Charlotte snapped, her hair cracking loudly with sparked electricity. Her hair frizzed in its low bun, and she could feel it stand up on end, the current of her emotions clearly making an outlet in her hair. _Perfect, just what she needed._ Obviously she wasn't a squib, she could make her bloody hair crack with lightening!

Mandy finally stopped pacing, and she seemed to be watching Charlotte's hair. Realising that she'd gone too far, she tucked her head. "Right. Sorry."

Tucking her wand away, which she hadn't realised she'd even had out at the time, Charlotte rubbed the bridge of her nose and stared at Mandy for a few seconds. She cleared her throat and nodded towards the castle."My exams soon, and i've really got to work on this so...maybe you should go."

She nodded slowly. "Yeah. Probably a good idea anyway." Just like that, she walked away.

Charlotte paced the length of the dock for a few minutes, expelling any adrenaline that Mandy had worked up. She wanted, _needed_ , to be relaxed when she attempted this bloody spell, but she was just so damn frustrated. If she was truly honest with herself, she wasn't even sure why. All Mandy had done was try to help her.

Finally, alone in silence, Charlotte took a breath in hopes it would relax her. She was truly alone now, just as she'd wanted. No one to disturb her when she tried pointlessly to study for her charms. _Just like she'd wanted_.

Her thoughts took a different turn from the spell she _should_ be practising, onto another that certainly wouldn't be possible if she couldn't cast a bloody _Lumos_ of all things. What being completely alone reminded her of, was the deal she'd made with James. Animagus for Lily. As far as she knew, the potion they'd made weeks ago was still in the prefects bathroom, levitated and concealed above the last stall. It had been sitting for the right amount of time, and she'd kind of expected James to tell her it was ready. Convince her to continue their 'lessons' with both Patronus and Animagi. The request never came, and she was no closer to becoming an animagi than she was two months ago.

Nevermind Animagi, she still hadn't managed to cast her bloody patronus since she'd first shown James her leopard. It wasn't like she didn't have any happy thoughts to conjure up. She wasn't _that_ dreary. The last time she'd tried to cast her patronus, she'd gotten a splitting headache and had to lay down for half a day before it subsided. It was rather disappointing, considering she'd let Lily know that she wasn't the only one who had a corporeal patronus.

She took a look up to the castle, seeing the distant figure of Mandy walking up the pathway, her robes casting a deep shadow behind her.

Slowly taking a breath, she took out her wand again, and held it out before her. " _Expecto Patronum_."

Nothing. Not a wisp of smoke, puff of grey or hint that a leopard was waiting to be set free. She stood there on the dock, pointing a stick towards the ground, with a dying hope that seemed to be slowly slipping further and further away from her.

Of all times, it hit her then that she'd managed to fall farther than where she'd been at the start of the year. Her practical exams at this rate would be a flop, and she'd have no chance at all passing charms if she couldn't at least get a acceptable on her practical. She'd have no hope in Defence, and couldn't see how she'd be able to transfigure anything if her magic wasn't _working_. She was still no better at socialising with her peers, _not that she'd really made it a priority_ , however she'd managed to make, and proceeded to lose a group of friends in a matter of a few months.

"Godric _fucking_ salazar," Charlotte hissed, kicking the dock. She was so preoccupied in her anger, and beating the shit out of one of the wooden poles on the dock, she didn't notice a piece of parchment, worn and crumpled, fall from her robes as she swung around to kick the ground again. It had floated into the black lake before she realised, completely, what had happened.

She'd forgotten that she grabbed it that morning, on her way out of the dorm. Stupid childish thing to do, but she'd hoped it would help her in some way. Encourage her and give her the strength she needed to get through her charms practical. Good luck charm. It hadn't really done the job, and she'd all but forgotten it till it sat on the surface of the lake, the ink quickly seeping out from the parchment to join the dark shadows of the lake.

"No!" _Shit._ Stumbling forward, tripping over her robes in the process, she quickly pointed her wand, her hand shaking. "Accio letter."

And suddenly, without thinking or trying particularly hard, the letter was in her hand.

She gasped, and choked and stumbled. So preoccupied with the feeling of her lungs being wrenched out of her chest and the piercing pain shooting from bottom of her tailbone all the way up to the top of her neck, she hadn't realised the dock before her was getting shorter and shorter, till her feet danced at the very edge. Her body crumbled underneath her, knees falling to the wood, and her chest heaving out strangled breaths. She felt the blood drain from her head, and her sight blotted before completely disappearing as her body leaned forward.

When she hit the lake, it was like falling onto glass. The water shattered around her and she was barely aware of being swallowed completely, unconscious before the ice seeped into her bones.

* * *

 **Happy 21st bday to me, lol.**

 **So um, holy shit - pardon le French. (Okay, i just have to say… i spent 30 minutes researching why we say that, and it wasn't at all productive. But FYI - it's because people tried to disguise their profanity by saying they were actually speaking french.)**

 **We hit a ton load of goals. 400 Faves, 600 Follows, 300 reviews and 200,000 words… I'm bloody speechless. How did this happen without me knowing? I truly had no idea. Was quite content going about my day. Got an email alert that someone followed and though, 'Aw, that's nice. Haven't checked out the numbers for awhile...might take a quick peek!' and there you go. Was utterly stunned.**

 **I feel like we have come so far, and i have shared so little. 215,000 words and the story has barely been told! I hope everyone stays for the long haul. I wish i could post more often, i really do. At the moment, i barely have time to sleep let alone write, but i miss it dearly! I have been driving to work every morning/evening instead of catching the train. I might switch back, if not so i can have that 3hrs back to write! Could you imagine what I could write if I was commuting 15 hrs a week?!**

 **Thank you, as always, for the supportive reviews and the constructive criticism. It was hard, reading some things… but that's just personal shit think i need to get over ;)**

 **I know these** _ **seem**_ **like filler chapters, but it really isn't…every chapter has a particular reason for most of its contents. Perhaps i am trying to convey a relationship in one chapter, or reveal something in another...but i can assure you, i have thought out its contents thoroughly. I haven't just served whatever came into my head at the time on a dingy platter. We established last chapter that Remus was aware of Charlotte's innocence. This chapter was only from Charlotte's perspective because it was important to see and understand that, though Sirius and James (mostly Sirius) had changed their perspectives, she is still torn between her feeling of betrayal and her desperate need for friendship.**

 **I know 'betrayal' might be pushing it...but Sirius and James and even Remus played on her** _ **fears**_ **. They knew she feared they would turn around one day and have no idea who she was, and proceeded to ignore her completely as though she were** _ **invisible**_ **. She consistently opens up to them and each time they find a way to let her down. Hell yeah she feels betrayed!**

 **What's more, she's only just worked out that she has a crush on James! The same person who is quite literally** _ **obsessed**_ **with her sister. The one person she feels at ease with. She is** _ **mortified.**_

 **Anyway. Lol. Got off track there.**

 **Love you all, hope to have another chapter soon xx**

 **Nomomom**


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter rating: K+ - T ( Language )

POVs: James Potter, Sirius Black, Lily Evans and Remus Lupin

Word Count: 14,022 words (don't ask me why its so bloody long)

Date originally published: 19/09/2017

Chapter 25

* * *

(~James Potter~)

James had been rather confident, _almost certain really_ , that he'd smashed his defence practical. He'd never doubted he'd do well, but considering how distracted his thoughts had been of late and how little study went into his exam preparation, he managed to work up a bit of a sweat going into the exam.

His allotted time, as they all had their practical on on different times, had been after dinner and the last one for the day. He was immediately at a disadvantage. Whoever would assess him would assuredly be 1. Sick of seeing students attempting to perform the most simple of spells and 2. Hungry and tired.

He'd wanted the start of the day, but unfortunately he'd been one of the last 6th years to put in their time, meaning he got last choice.

Worst time of day aside, he'd gone into his defence classroom rather confident in his abilities. He performed the spells well and didn't cock up once. For him, that was a rare _rare_ occurrence. It wasn't as though he lacked in the magic department, he just didn't always make the best choices.

He'd hoped his mates would be waiting in the common room for him when he returned, but they were surprisingly absent. Didn't exactly stop him from boasting about his superfluous skills in front of his peers who seemed amused and agitated at his sudden invasion and unprecedented distraction. Most of them likely still had their defence practical's to go, so it was a tad insensitive to go around bragging however no one told James that.

Content that all of Gryffindor knew his prowess, he'd leapt up the stairs two at a time, whacking a seventh year, who looked completely drained, on the back on his way past. Letting his dorm room door swing open and bang against the wall loudly, he'd all but yelled; "Mates, i'm a bloody genius! Who's gonna be an auror when they leave Hogwarts, i'm gonna be an auror when i leave Hogwarts! You should have seen the look on Hen-"

" _Godric's sake_ Jame _s,_ shut the fuck up and close the door!"

It was Sirius' no nonsense tone that had him pausing, arms raised in the air. It was the sight of him barely holding down a thrashing Remus that made him close the door, with more care this time, and rush over. Remus was in quite a state. Shaking and sweating profusely from an obvious fever, his muscles spasming in his arms and legs and a low groan, which could have been mistaken for a growl, hummed in the back of his throat.

It was all too obvious what was going on with his friend, making James wince and carefully sit on the opposite edge of Remus' bed.

"Now?" James asked, his voice barely a whisper. He looked up to Sirius, who was determined in his task, but notably saddened. His brow twitched and he nodded slowly.

"Now."

The low groan emitted from their friend couldn't now be mistaken for anything other than animalistic and James winced. Leaning forward over the sand-haired boy with concealed scars littering his cheeks, he wiped away the sweat on his forehead using his sweater. He brushed his hair aside and carefully pried open an eyelid. Gold eyes, wide and dilated stared up at him. They faded to a brown eventually, but it was barely night, he shouldn't have been this close to transforming.

They'd had no other choice. They couldn't take him to the shrieking shack just before the moon rose like usual, it would be too late by then. Remus wouldn't turn before the full moon came, but clearly the full moon was a little earlier in the night this month.

They waited until the Gryffindor common room was settled before they tried moving Remus. Though he'd gone from his oversensitive hearing to heightened sense of smell, his gradual transformation into furry beast made him somewhat of a grouch. It was more for the other students safety than Remus comfort, knowing he'd go from a groaning teen to a growling half-wolf in under a minute if provoked.

Throwing a heavy cloak over him, and with James on his shoulder, stumbling and giggling like he'd had one too many fire whiskeys, they managed to escape the common room with only a few comments on their intoxication on a school night. An _exam_ night no less.

They'd gotten out of the castle, with the maps help, without running into a prefect or professor to their distinct luck.

"Padfoot, hold the bloody map straight!" James grumbled, adjusting Remus' arm slung across his shoulder whilst also attempting to cover both himself, Remus and Sirius under his cloak. It was a poor plan, as they usually had someone else to direct, but wormtail was off getting some potions for Remus, as well as food.

Sirius readjusted the map after some choice words of annoyance. James didn't have the heart to tell Sirius the map was upside down. He was tired, and worried and wished pete would hurry the hell up. They'd been standing outside for almost 20 minutes now, and he swore he was starting to lose all feeling in his right arm as he held up the cloak. He was going to argue that they head inside when Pete came scuttling out of the castle, a bag strung against his chest and his wand in his left hand.

James dropped the cloak and sighed in relief.

"Pete, alright?" Sirius asked, struggling with both Remus' weight and the map he was trying to hold up.

"Yeah, got the potions." Pete said, shaking his bag a little so the glass bottles could brush against each other. He took a look at Remus, who was still unconscious and frowned. "What about exams?"

"We'll work that out later. We need to move faster." James nudged his head towards the wall, and with Sirius' help, they propped Remus up against it. James slapped his cheek softly, grimacing when a soft growl like groan emitted from the boy. "Remus, you with us?"

James wasn't exactly enthused to wake up the poor boy, but they couldn't carry him all the way to the shrieking shack. Not in this weather.

Remus opened his eyes groggily, shaking his head when he couldn't seem to focus on anything. Gold and brown melded together as boy struggled to contain wolf. Eventually with a great sigh, Remus relaxed, slumping into James and Sirius' arms. A second later, his eyes were opened and only brown was visible. "Yeah, sorry. Bit groggy."

"Mate, we're heading to the whomping willow now. Moony's popping out a little too early for our liking." James explained, moving him so an arm was strung across his shoulder. Sirius was on his other side, and together they moved Remus slowly out of the grounds.

"Damnit. You guys should be doing your charms practical," Remus hissed, fighting back a whine.

"Remus, look around. Its around 8 at night. We've done our exams. Smashed em obviously." James smirked when Remus gave him a dubious look. "and If that's your way of saying thank you, i'm rather hurt."

"Yeah, here i was thinking you _liked_ our presence."

"What on earth gave you that impression." Remus joked, putting a hand on Sirius' face and shoving him away with a laugh that quickly turned into a groan. "Thanks guys."

"Alright, enough mush. Pete, you lead on?"

"Let's go down the last corridor, i spot a ravenclaw," Pete whispered, the only one of them who had the good thought to do so. Once they'd gotten round the corner, Pete turned around and started walking backwards, his eyes flicking between the map and the three of them. "Did you know Charlotte was friends with Mandy?"

"Quidditch Mandy?" James wondered aloud, thinking of the tall lanky reserve on his team. Quiet thing, he'd been trying to help her grow a spine for almost 2 years. She was so bloody terrified of doing the wrong thing, she didn't shine in any particular area. Was a darn shame, she was a fair flyer.

"I'm pretty sure there is only one Mandy, but yes. Quidditch Mandy," Pete retorted, rolling his eyes.

"You know, she's quite a good flyer for a bird." James and Remus gave Sirius a look, causing him to laugh. "What? She's one of two girls on the team...i'm just speaking honestly."

Fair point. The other girl on their team, Celeste Spinnet, was their current seeker. They'd be in trouble when she left. James would have to start looking for replacements within the first few weeks of the next term. He already had a few people in mind… but it would mean pulling out a chaser or beater.

Spinnet wasn't fantastic. She was the best they had, so he worked her to the ground and formed her into a decent seeker. If it was a head to head match, just seekers between either hufflepuff or Slytherin, they'd have no chance at all. Problem with Spinnet, was that she wasn't fast enough. It wasn't even her broom speed that was the problem. More so, she couldn't see ahead.

Their seeker when he was in his third year, and they'd had a fairly lenient captain, was a thinker. He thought ahead and played the other seeker just as much as he sought out the snitch. Spinnet was so caught up in the moment, she wasn't able to calculate very well any strategies for fighting off the other seeker, or better yet, fighting him off and catching the snitch.

She'd only caught the snitch once since he'd been captain, and it was a foul. She'd nicked the Ravenclaws broom and they'd gone flying into the stands. She'd cost them the match that afternoon, and he'd been livid. Spinnet ran so many laps of the pitch the next day that she'd wound up with a twisted ankle and sores all over her feet.

He wasn't exactly sorry to see her go, but it did mean that he would need to fill it as soon as possible. He'd never even thought to have Mandy give seeking a go...

"Well don't let Lily hear you say that. She'd curse you to the pit of the black lake," Remus quipped, chuckling even as he stumbled and almost fell into the mud. Sirius and James helped right him and James left an arm across his stomach, just in case.

They were about halfway to the whomping willow, and the grass around them was slippery from dew. Remus was stumbling over his own feet enough, the decreased friction underneath them was no help. To make matters worse, he was almost sure that it would be raining tonight. Remus had been making comments the past few days that it was getting warmer. James hadn't noticed, so he assumed it had something to do with Remus' senses. Now that James focused, it was rather humid. It had him sighing, realising how much harder things would become just because of the rain.

A finger prodded into his ribs, and James jumped jerkily, unintentionally tugging on Remus, causing him to stumble. He cursed underneath his breath, glaring at Sirius who hadn't seemed to notice at all that his mate had almost landed face-first in the mud.

"Lovely temperment that one has prongs," Sirius said flippantly, raising his brows at the glare he received in return.

Sirius might be his best mate, but they hadn't been on the best of terms for a fair while now, and James was quite frankly a little tired of his whining about Lily. He always found a reason to complain about her. Whether she had caught him and a bird during her prefect patrol, snogging where they shouldn't, or perhaps her voice was too loud, or her hair too red or her opinion too different. Most of all, Sirius complained about James talking about Lily. Apparently, he never _shut up_. Sirius was quite happy to share with the other gryffindors blokes that James was moaning about Lily every night, not having the decency to put up a silencing charm before finishing himself off. Utter hippogriff shit that made him red with anger. He _always_ used a silencing charm. It was bloody Sirius who lacked the courtesy.

James called him out every time. Made some joke that it had been him who'd been moaning about professor Mcgonagall. To everyone else, it was their usual nonsense. But afterwards, when James would yell at him for the tiniest of things, they'd both know it was much deeper than just a few jokes between mates.

"Ah, back on track please," Pete snapped testily, slipping slightly on a step. He yelped loudly and Sirius made a last minute grab of his robes, stopping him from completely sliding down. He muttered an embarrassed thanks, and Sirius just patted his back in response. Of course, this had left James to carry all of Remus' weight, and he'd just about dropped him as Sirius returned.

Pete started walking again, taking a quick peek at the map before looking over his shoulder. "We were talking about Charlotte?"

"The more attractive side to the Evan's tree." James flicked Sirius' ear, making him chuckle. Though he knew Sirius liked Charlotte, to what capacity he was still a little unsure, it didn't mean he had to hear about it. It made him a little unsettled just thinking about it.

After their run in, in his dorm, he wasn't quite sure what to think of the blonde haired Evans. It gave him a headache to even broach the topic. That headache was settling now, and he decided he'd much rather hear Sirius' boasting then submit himself to a migraine when he didn't have any potions handy. "Even you've got to admit prongs, when she gives a rare smile, she gives your _lovely Lily_ a run for her money."

Sirius waggled his brows, and a wide smirk adorned his satisfied lips. James didn't like it. Didn't like it at all. Whether it was the fact that he'd just unknowingly admitted to being attracted to Lily, or that he was trying to convince James, _of all people_ , that Charlotte was attractive, he wasn't quite sure.

He found, as he'd gone to glare at Sirius for even _approaching_ the topic, that Remus was watching him semi-curiously. Only part curious, as he was also wincing in pain.

Why was Remus interested in James' response? Surely they must know that he'd _obviously_ find Lily more attractive. He didn't even want to think, or consider, the alternative.

"I'd rather not compare them thanks." James said uncomfortably, looking ahead and avoiding his sandy-haired friend who had a certain propensity of reading his thoughts. He'd often wondered on more than one occasion if Remus knew legilimency, and just hadn't told them. He'd then thought the idea was ridiculous, and banished the thought all together. James shook his head and cleared his throat. "What's so fascinating about Charlotte and Mandy?"

His diversion worked brilliantly, and no one seemed to notice his awkward answer to Sirius' question. If they had, they thankfully didn't mention it. Knowing Sirius well enough, he'd likely take the piss out of him and wouldn't let up till he'd confessed _why indeed_ he wouldn't like to compare the Evans twins. James honestly didn't want to think about it himself.

"It's rather peculiar that someone who suddenly has no friends now does."

Remus grunted, and pulled his head up to nod. "Though indelicate about it, Pete has a point." He tried to stand on his own, as they were now on level ground, and James just about slapped him when he stumbled. Annoyed, and a little ashamed, he'd put all his energy in trying to stand without their assistance, and though he swayed, he'd seemed to find his footing. James gave him a look that Remus rolled his eyes at. "I'm fine. Lily, Charlotte and even Alice all said they she hadn't had a friend for years. _Years._ Now all of a sudden she does? Peculiar." He nodded in agreement to Pete, and slumped slightly. James lifted his brows, and Remus rolled his eyes as he accepted the help of James once more.

Sirius came on his other side and shuffled in close to give the same support. They were once more on the move, and to James' relief, they were now fairly close to the willow and therefore, the shack.

"Well, she has- _had_ us." Sirius' amendment came spitefully, and he made it clear he was still unhappy with the decision they'd collectively made. James wanted to scoff. It had been him who'd first objected. Sirius had only spoken up after the first time he'd ignored her. They'd walked past her in the corridor, and kept up a lively conversation, not pausing a moment even as she called both their names several times. Eventually she stopped saying their names, and walked away slowly, her shoulders hunched in and her face hidden by her hair. "Speaking of, i've tried to get her to talk to me several times over the past few days now, and all she does is glare and swear in that beautifully articulate way of hers."

Remus' laugh came out in a strangled wheeze. James rubbed his back as he struggled to get out and breathe in much need oxygen. He gave James a thankful smile. "What do you expect, you blatantly ignored her for weeks."

"Correction, we blatantly ignored her. Your idea if i seem to remember." James frowned, watching as Remus' eyes dropped down and he nodded to himself. Sirius was none the wiser, shrugging his shoulders as he looked between his mates. "I guess i thought she'd miss my company."

"Why on earth would you think that?" James muttered under his breathe, noticing how Sirius waggled his brows.

"Oh shove it prongs," Sirius said with a loud laugh, turning back around to continue walking. "Like you've got it any better. Has she spoken to you?"

Remus turned to look at him, brow raised, clearly wondering the same thing, and it made him shift awkwardly.

"Ah dunno actually. Haven't actually approached her," James said with a shrug, trying not to notice how both Sirius and Remus, as well as Pete gave him weird looks.

It wasn't like he was avoiding her, he just...well, he wasn't quite sure how he was supposed to mend the bridge once he'd destroyed it so effectively. He didn't know if he should start with an apology and finish by telling her he _actually_ believed her after all this time, knowing that would only tick her off more.

He'd just gotten things right with her, when they'd found her file and decided that their congenial friendship likely wasn't in their best interests. He'd known she was pissed, her actions a few days ago in the corridor was enough evidence of that. He'd found Lily's glaring chilly in the past, but in comparison to Charlotte's icy daggers, Lily was bloody heartwarming.

It was beyond simple apologies, now that he'd gone back on his word. He could barely hold in a grimace when he thought of the betrayed look she'd given him countless times. Then he'd gone and acted completely barmy around her when she'd had the brilliant idea to trap him in his dorm. Now he was just meant to be his regular charming self? How in Salazar was she not meant to be suspicious?

Since he'd had that rather heated conversation with Lily in the great hall, all of which Remus was privy to, the bird had been strangely kind to him. He wasn't at all complaining, if anything he raked in the attention like a bloody whore. But, it did make him rather uncomfortable when Charlotte was around.

Since that day, he hadn't seen Lily and Remus sitting together much, which was disappointing, as it was really his only good excuse to sit with Lily. That was until Sirius expressed an interest in Mary, who happened to be Alice's roommate who sometimes sat with Lily at breakfast. Alas, no matter how much he begged, which he did often, loudly and publicly, Sirius wouldn't sit with them. It was partially why James was so ticked off at him, it being clear that the only reason he wouldn't do it was because he didn't like Lily.

With or without his and Charlotte's help, things were improving with the red-head, and he hadn't the foggiest why. She'd smile at him, and when he waved at her, instead of glaring, she'd give a wave back, albeit she shook her head and gave him a look that suggested he was every much the idiot she thought he was. He'd walked straight into another student when that happened, and more often than not he found himself getting utterly distracted by the mere thought of Lily.

He saw her everywhere he went. A leaf? Lily. Sirius using a snarky tone? Lily. Remus reading? Lily. A professor yelling at him for accidentally walking into the girl's lavatory? Surprisingly, still Lily.

It had been like this before, but never quite this bad. It was like she captivated his almost every thought. He hardly went 20 minutes without thinking of the bird. In fact, after he'd walked into the dorm to find a panicked Sirius and thrashing Remus, it had been the first time in _probably_ weeks that he'd gone an hour without thinking of her.

It was as though only 3 things surrounded his thoughts these days. Lily, Charlotte and his studies. Well, 4 if your included Quidditch. 5 if you include the upcoming prank he'd been thinking of as a send off for the seventh years…

Lily was definitely in his top 10 things to think about these days, and her change in attitude had only made things worse.

"Have you noticed how _nice_ Lily has been lately?" James mused aloud, looking to Sirius and Remus, then back to Sirius. He let out a sigh and smiled to himself, thinking he could hardly do otherwise.

"Lily? What, no. We are talking about Charlotte here," Sirius said irritably, clicking his fingers impatiently in front of James' face. James swatted the hand away, and noticed that Sirius had taken up his spot beside Remus. They were now almost at the hollow near the shack...how long had he been out of it for?

"Why haven't you bloody pursued her? I thought it was settled that the only way we could really find out what was going on with Charlotte and help her was to get _closer_ to her. She won't even let or, bloody hell, _believe_ that we are trying to help her if we don't build up that trust we managed to quell quite efficiently." James nodded, albeit reluctantly. Unfortunately, _as far as he knew_ , he was the only one out of the group that had made a promise not to forget her. At the time, he hadn't known what she meant, and just agreed once she saw how vehement she'd argued. Well, he'd gone and done exactly what he'd promised against, though in a different fashion. It was quite possible ignoring someone's existence was worse than simply forgetting it. "James, you were the closest with her. Put in a little effort yeah? Chatting up a bird, how hard can it be?"

 _How hard could it be?_ If only Sirius knew.

"It's taken him years to crack a smile out of Lily, what makes you thin-" James stopped walking, and glared. Pete got the message. Loud and clear. "Ah, nevermind."

"I can't _chat_ her up." He said, rolling his eyes and snatching the map out of Pete's hand with a glare. He nodded towards Remus, giving him the unworded command to take Sirius' place, which he did without hesitation.

Sirius raised his brows, but fell into step with James, taking the map from his outstretched hand.

"Well, we need you to." James looked to Remus, surprise evident. "Sirius is right, you were closest with her. Whatever is going on with her, you'll be the first of any of us to work out, from her perspective, what's going on."

Sirius' nodding confirmed Remus' observation, and he realised this made it all the more difficult for him. Sure, he'd been closer with her than Remus and Pete, but wasn't Sirius was right up there? He still remembered the way she'd blush and glare when Sirius openly flirted with her, only a moment before she'd shove him away, making her reluctantly smile. They held a camaraderie that she and James just...didn't.

It was different for them. Perhaps because he'd managed to bump into a few personal situations, like her curiosity for Animagi, her distress at fighting with her sister and even the revelation of getting her patronus. All of which had made things...difficult. They weren't as easy going, and they managed to land themselves in some curious situations, the dorm room meetup a prime example.

James sighed, looking towards Remus who, though slumped forward and exhausted, was watching him patiently.

"You lead again," James said to Pete, gesturing for him to let Remus fall on his shoulder. Pete sighed, but did so, muttering under his breath about the change in dynamic of their expedition _again_ , but James simply ignored him.

James took up Remus again, despite his protests and valiant attempts at standing straight. Eventually, he gave up and slumped against James' left shoulder.

"If something serious is going on, we need to be aware of it _now_ before it gets more severe. If i'm right, and whatever is going on is linked to her magic, she could be in serious-" James' eyes shot to his left, when he felt the arm wrapped around him constrict tightly. Remus was trembling convulsively where he stood, his grip on James becoming lax and a low, deep whine escaping his lips.

Eyes wide, James looked to Sirius who he guessed looked as troubled as he did. With Sirius' help, they sat him down on a stoned step. All they could really do was support him until the trembling stopped. Which it did, eventually. They'd never really seen Remus have a fit like that and James suspected he was usually at the shack before it happened.

They were cutting it damn close to his transformation, and if they didn't hurry, they'd have a werewolf roaming the school grounds instead of tearing up an abandoned shack in hogsmeade. They were almost at the Whomping willow now, so instead of stressing about how close they were coming to become meat for their werewolf friend, he focused on making sure his friend was actually okay.

"Moony, you alright? You with us still?" James asked, using a hand to lift up his chin so he could see Remus' eyes. They were the easiest way to tell how far along he was. His iris' were rimmed in a golden yellow colour, and his pupils took up almost all the colour. Unlike before, the colour didn't regress. The gold, and the inhuman size of his pupils remained.

Remus huffed out a large breath, and glared at Sirius and James, before the glare softened to a wince when he whined again.

"Bloody hell, yes." Remus huffed again, pushing Sirius' face away when it came uneasily close to his. It wasn't likely for comforts sake, rather he was likely worried that his wolf form would emerge any moment now and rip his best mate to shreds. He straightened himself, letting out a low groan at the aching in his muscles. James remained at his side, especially when Remus pushed himself to stand, and forced him to swing an arm over his shoulder. "Just… She's comfortable around you prongs. I-...I can smell it."

James just about dropped Remus to the floor as he tripped over his own feet. Swearing, he shuffled Remus back onto his shoulders, ignoring the loud laugh of Sirius.

"Quiet would you!" Pete said lowly, eyes wide and accusing.

"You can smell it?" James hissed in question. "What the bloody hell does that mean?"

They were all well aware of how Remus' senses worked after all this time. There was a reason Sirius always went to him for confirmation when he was interested in a bird. Remus could bloody _smell_ if they were interested in a bloke. James didn't know if he considered it a blessing or a curse. Afterall, he was surrounded by a bunch of repressed rowdy teenagers. Godric only knew what shite he went through every month.

The thought that he'd picked up something from Charlotte was… confusing.

"It means our lovely Charlotte has the hots for you prongs. Thinks your quidditch bod is fit," Sirius swung an arm around James neck, leaning in close to whisper in his ear. " _Arousal_ and all that inappropriate fun stuff young ladies whisper about when the lights go out."

Before James' thoughts ran away with him, Remus interjected.

"That's not what i meant at all," Remus intervened, glaring at Sirius, even through his own agony. He used the hand hanging around James to shove at Sirius' face, ridding them of his heavy weight. "Ignore him. He's just mopy because she doesn't have the hots for _him_." James decided not to acknowledge that, _at all_ , simply rolling his eyes as he continued to watch Remus with a frown. "You know how my senses work around the moon. Trust me."

James sighed, running a hand anxiously through his hair. Of course he _trusted_ Remus. That was the problem. Things were difficult, verging on _awkward,_ around Charlotte at the moment. How was he meant to 'chat her up' of all things, when apparently she smelt _comfortable_ around him?

What in salazar did _comfortable_ even smell like? Was it a good smell? Perhaps it was the sweet spice he'd become to recognise as a scent that seemed to trail around her. That was a nice smell…

Godric, this was going to drive him barmy.

Remus' hand on his shoulder brought him out of his silent misery, head dropped in both hands. Remus gave him an encouraging, and clearly pained, smile.

Here he was, acting as though his whole world was falling apart because a bird felt comfortable around him, when Remus was struggling with much more pressing, painful matters. Selfish prick that he was, more worried about the awkwardness between him and Charlotte than his best mate who was slowly entering a slow, bone-crushingly painful, transformation he dreaded every moment of his life.

James returned the smile, and helped Remus get his footing. Sirius and Pete continued chatting till they got to the whomping willow, but James and Remus stayed in mutual silence. ' _Focus on Remus now,_ ' James thought to himself. ' _Think about the mess of Charlotte Amaryllis Evans later.'_

" _What are we going to do when Madam Pomfrey comes to take him to the shack?"_

" _We'll obliviate her and send her on her way"_

" _Sirius."_

" _I'm kidding. Obviously. We'll just tell her Remus went early so he could rest first. Considering he has actually done that before, it's not too far of a leap."_

" _Right, well we need to get a move on."_

" _Indeed. Just because the full moon isn't complete, doesn't mean we don't have an overly emotional, strengthened and confused Teenage werewolf on our hands."_

" _Shut up Sirius."_

" _Easy wolfboy."_

* * *

(~Lily Evans~)

Things were finally quiet in the library. Lily had spent almost the entire day in here, and now that it was later in the night, almost everyone had cleared out. Of course, there were still a few slytherins in their corner of the library, some Ravenclaw and hufflepuffs quietly arguing and Alice and Lily, who'd found a rather lovely spot in the library near the magical beasts section. It was quiet, had larger benches than usual, and softer seats.

She'd found her mind wander, quite aware that she and alice had been at it all day. Sure, they'd had breaks almost every two hours but it was exhausting, nonetheless. Alice had taken up a magazine in place of her textbooks about 20 minutes ago, and was currently snickering to something Lily didn't doubt was likely inappropriate.

Ever since she's seen a muggle magazine in Lily's collection of goods sent from her mother, she'd been addicted to the bloody things. She began to order her own, and it was rare that an owl wasn't flying by weekly to drop her off a new one. She'd heard enough from Mary Macdonald and Greta catchlove, Alice's roommates, to know that the girl was a tad possessive of them, putting all sorts of charms on her chest and they were rather scandalis in content.

She seemed rather relaxed, and Lily shut her book for a moment, leaning back in her chair, wishing she shared her best friends carefree spirit sometimes. "Alice, can i stay in your dorm the next few nights?"

Her brows rose as her light eyes found Lily's. She shrugged, and flipped another page of her magazine. "Course. What's the problem though? Trouble in paradise?" A flippant smile aimed in her direction.

"Not exactly," Lily admitted with a frown. "You know how Charlotte gets when it's around exam time. I wasn't able to find her all afternoon yesterday, so she was probably hold up in our dorms. I didn't check, but i'm pretty sure she used her curtains and a protective charm."

Lily ran a hand over her forehead, feeling a headache build. Her bloody sister would be the death of her if she had her wish. It was bad enough that they barely got on at times, but disappearing for a day, and hiding away in your bed for another day, took it a bit far.

She had no idea what had provoked her darling twin's ire, but since she'd seen Black, Potter and Pettigrew in the hallway, she was slamming doors,throwing things haphazardly and swearing like a sailor under her breathe. _As though Lily couldn't hear her!_

When she'd finally confronted the messy haired girl about her attitude, all she got in return was a glare, and their dorm room door slammed in her face after she'd grabbed her robe, her wand and something else sitting on her bedside table. It had left Lily seething. Her bloody moods and ever changing attitudes gave her whiplash.

Godric, she'd even gone ahead and done as she'd asked, been a tad more respectable towards Potter. She'd found out it wasn't quite as hard as she expected, but it somehow only managed to further Charlotte's descent into whatever gloom she was casting for herself. It had been her who suggested she cosy up to the bloody hazel-eyed idiot, and now she was seemingly angered by it!

"Did you find any bottles?" Lily scoffed, crossing her arms as she shook her head.

"No, but since i found them last time, she's taken to locking her chest with a particularly strong ward." Lily knew well, because she'd tried to get in that chest several times when her dear twin had been out of their dorm, and the third time she'd tried, the spell backfired and it had burnt her hands!

She'd been so shocked that she'd hardly tried to cover up her attempts when Charlotte had strolled back into the dorm, looking rather satisfied in herself.

"Well that's surprising," Alice mused allowed, swinging back in her chair as she tapped her wand on her chin.

Lily nodded, understanding quite well that Alice wasn't referring to Charlotte's particular fancy of firewhiskey at all, rather her sudden ability to perform sound magic. To be fair, this was a few months ago, back when Charlotte's practical magic was faring better, she had less _annoying_ friends, and she and Charlotte were closer.

"When it comes to firewhiskey, i'm not sure it's surprising at all," Lily murmured, thinking of the time Charlotte had petrified bottles of firewhiskey to the roof of her bed frame so one could only see them if they were laying down on their bed. Inventive. Stupid, but inventive. That had been around 2 months before Charlotte was taken to St Mungos for her alcohol abuse. Daft witch was lucky she wasn't expelled as it was rather clear she had been drinking during school hours. If there was even the smallest chance that her sister could be slipping into her old habits… Lily shook her head, vowing she wouldn't let that happen. She might be exhausted beyond belief and stressed to the point of a panic attack, but she would _not_ let it happen.

"I've got to tell mummy and dad. Can i have some parchment please?" Lily held out a hand to Alice, grabbing her quill and ink from the bag sitting beside her. She'd brought all her studying implements in her bag, besides spare parchment. Unusual for her to forget something so basic… but with prefect patrols and the extra work she was doing around the school in order to solidify her place as head-girl, it was really no surprise.

Alice raised her brows and crossed her arms, making no move to get the parchment. "Is that wise? They did threaten to take her wand away"

Lily fixed her with a stare, shrugging her shoulders, her hand still out. "That's Charlotte's problem, not mine."

That caught Alice's attention, and she let her chair fall forwards, so all legs were firmly on the ground, before leaning her arms on the desk. She analysed Lily long enough that she was beginning to feel uncomfortable. Alice had rather opposing opinions to Lily, and it often made things difficult between them. It also made them the perfect match.

"Lily, you are being really hard on her, why?"

 _Hard on her_?

'Bit much,' Lily mused to herself, scoffing and shaking her head. She was looking out for her sister, how is that being hard on her? Alice should know better than _anyone_ the sort of mess Lily had been when Charlotte had wound up in hospital, or the multiple times she'd found her sister passed out on her bed, or in the bloody back bushes of their house in Cokeworth.

It was always her who found her, and she would have to listen to Charlotte's pathetic moans about her pitiful life. She'd always claimed Lily was the self-absorbed twin, but that wasn't it at all. Charlotte couldn't see outside of the little bubble of isolation she was caught in, so she became narcissistic and, _often,_ cruel.

She was a little better now… with the unfortunate help of Potter and Black, Remus and Pete. If she tripped over a rock, her first reaction wasn't to glare at Lily, which was a _definite_ improvement.

Why was it so _wrong_ to want to have a normal relationship with your sister? She couldn't have one with Petunia, so that left her twin, who for so long either clung to, or hated Lily. She knew it wasn't going to happen with a firewhiskey bottle in her path, so why allow such bad habits to continue?

Their parents wouldn't actually snap her wand, _surely_. Charlotte believed, without a shadow of a doubt, that mum and dad wouldn't hesitate to snap her wand if they found out she'd been excessively drinking again, but Lily just couldn't believe that.

Their parents knew what magic was to them. Or, at least, what it was to Lily. Charlotte drifted away from their parents since she started going to Hogwarts, so perhaps they didn't know quite as well as they did in comparison to Lily.

Now, Lily understood quite well what Alice had tried to make her do. _Try and empathise with Charlotte_. To start, Lily wouldn't have gotten herself in her position in the first place. Firewhiskey? Only an idiot with half a brain reached for that bit of toxic liquid.

To snap a wand though… that was a wizard or witches worst nightmare. To be stripped of your connection to, not only your wand, but an object that allowed for the physical manifestation of your magic… it was impossible to think about what that could do to a person. Lily would guess that Charlotte would likely find a way to get her hands on another wand, legally or illegally.

She _knew_ her sister didn't quite fit in with the magical community, or at least, not her peers at Hogwarts, but it was the closest thing to being a part of a community that she'd come to. Even when they went to a muggle primary school, Lily at least know she was different, and would be quite surprised if Charlotte didn't also.

When she'd discovered her _freakish_ talents, she at least had Severus to assure her she wasn't nearly as odd as she felt. Being a half-blood, he knew a fair bit about magic before it really emerged for him, and he quelled her fears. Charlotte didn't have anyone.

Then started Hogwarts, and the first year or so had gone on fine. Charlotte wasn't particularly close with anyone, but she was content to simply learn about the limits of her magic. She was wicked at magic until, probably their 4th year.

As Remus managed to pry out of her, she'd known something was wrong with Charlotte when their peers and teachers began to forget her name, act as though she weren't in the room and seemed to lose their memory of her completely. Try as she might to sway them otherwise, her parents didn't seem that fussed, and what could she say to teachers?

So, _perhaps,_ she had known rather well what Charlotte was going through at the time of her inebriation. It was also quite possible that she had chosen to ignore it. _Godric_ , Remus was right. He had been so right about her. _As always._

Lily slumped back, resting a hand over her mouth for a few moments as she looked to her friend. Eventually she dropped her arms and gace a helpless shrug. "I don't know."

She didn't know why she was so hard on her sister, or why she ignored what was so plain in front of her. She didn't know why it didn't bother her at times the way people treated her sister (or didn't treat her at all). She wasn't even sure why she was so annoyed that Charlotte was friends with Black, Potter, Remus and Pete. They weren't the worst sort… she could do worse.

"Let's hold off for tonight, hm?" Lily looked to her friend, seeing a knowing smile on her lips that she couldn't help but scowl at. Silently, she knew that Alice was rather triumphant. Bloody hell she had a gift for making Lily see things she was too daft to recognise. Was quite smug about it too. "Until you actually find evidence that she is drinking again, don't contact your parents. Who knows, she might be off shagging Black or Potter. Or both."

Lily sputtered aloud in disbelief, eyes wide as Alice laughed at her comical reaction.

"Alice!" Lily cried, hardly holding back the laugh that came out as her best friend waggled her brows and hummed appreciatively.

"What? They're fit." Lily shook her head in disbelief. How quickly she could turn a conversation to _boys_. It was a wonder Lily put up with the girl. The idea of Charlotte and Black, or Charlotte and Potter or godric forbid, Charlotte and _the both of them_ shagging, just about forced her dinner onto the library carpet. Not an image Lily ever wanted to conjure, thank you!

"Your dating frank," Lily commented once Alice's laughs died down, raising her brows at her fair haired friend.

"I still have eyes Lily, and they appreciate a good quidditch bod." Lily rolled her eyes and picked up the nearest book to her, opening to a random page and taking up a look of complete concentration. The girl across from her snickered, unfazed by her friend showing a lack of interest in herself-musings. Lily honestly had to wonder sometimes why she put up with this sort of rubbish. "So does Charlotte, and i'll bet, so do you."

 _Incorrigible!_

* * *

(~Sirius Black~)

Sirius' head drooped low and his eyes threatened to roll backwards. Lulled by the quiet ticking of the infirmary clock on the wall opposite him, it took all he had to stay conscious. Weeks of sleeping only halfway through the night consecutively with the full moon last night, had successfully stolen every ounce of energy he had. He was lucky to stay awake through their blasted DADA exam at this rate. Though Sirius wasn't what you would call academic, he certainly didn't mind the surprise he brought on when he actually did half-well in an exam, knowing most professors assumed he would flunk the year.

Lately, whenever his head had landed on a pillow and he'd finally start to drift off to sleep, he'd dream of the night he James and Pete caught the Evans' twins with a bunch of Slytherins and Ravenclaw in the hallway. He dreamt of holding up that student, strangling him till he was gasping for breathe and his eyes lolled back into his head. He dreamt of the disgust and sequential fear on Charlotte's face.

If the nightmare wasn't bad enough, it always managed to morph into his parents. Unlike every other time they'd unfortunately entered his dreams, they were looking at him with proud smiles on their faces. His father nodding slowly in approval and his mother smiling in a way he'd never quite seen her smile. Looking down, to the wand in his arm, he saw a marking on his forearm. He leapt forward in his bed, gasping for air with sweat dripping down his forehead and bare chest, just moments after recognising the ink to be the dark mark.

His dreams disturbed him beyond belief. Not that he thought he could ever take up the bloody dark mark, make his parents proud or kill a student. Honestly, the whole thing seemed a bit far fetched. It was like it wasn't from his point of view though, like he was seeing himself from Charlotte's eyes. He'd had to run to the bathroom to avoid being sick in his bed after realising that.

Disturbing dreams aside, their last full moon at Hogwarts for their sixth year had been far worse than usual. If he had to guess, the little argument between Remus and Lily had made moony a bit more irritated than usual. Top it off with the guilt he'd been moaning about for days after discovering that _perhaps_ Charlotte wasn't as guilty as she had seemed.

It was his idea, after all, to isolate her. He'd revealed to them he wanted to see how she reacted. No matter how hard he protested, Remus, Pete and even James agreed to it. Might have called them a bunch of hippogriff shit eating tossers after that, and he might have received a hex in return.

Sirius had stared at Remus, or _glared_ if you cared for specifics, as Charlotte had tried getting his attention behind him in the middle of their History of Magic class. When, eventually, she was yelling he didn't look surprised by her reaction, and afterwards, when Sirius had lost his nutters, didn't seem apologetic at all. Even when it had gotten to the point that James had to pull on his shoulder to get him to back off, all Remus could do was frown and explain with all his _wonderful_ logic why it was necessary.

Sirius understood, to a point, that Remus was only trying to protect himself, protect the lot of them. He just couldn't fathom why Charlotte would _care_ that they were animagus. Afterall, she was halfway to becoming one herself! He wasn't too sure how she'd feel about Remus' furry friend, but it was unlikely she'd find out anyway. Unless Remus coughed it up as he'd done with Lily.

Emotional bloke as he was, all but screamed it at her. Only Sirius was there at the time, and he'd had his wand ready behind his back, ready to blast Lily the second she'd shown the slightest bit of disgust. He'd almost dropped his wand when the red-headed beast that _rarely_ held his affections leapt into Remus arms, cradling him as the scar littered boy wept.

The relief that replaced his dormant fear was one of the only reasons Sirius tolerated Evans' presence. He didn't get it. Never had. Prongs was besotted with the girl, Moony cared for her far more than he realised. Sirius was _fairly_ sure Pete had a crush on her whenever she gave him a moment, and the rest of the population at Hogwarts practically worshipped her.

He fancied a taste of women with ruby hair as much as any other red-blooded male, magic or not, but _this_ red head only managed to get on his nerves. Perhaps it had been the way she'd first rejected his attentions.

It had just been a bit of flirting. Nothing in comparison to what James carried on with, but her reaction to it soiled his good opinion of her. He wouldn't lie in saying he was attracted to the innocent, book loving nerd and her looks only seemed to magnify his interest. She had seemed to be flawless, until she'd cut through him with her snake-like words.

Summing him up to be like every other sex-crazed teenage boy who whored themselves through Hogwarts to get a taste of something they couldn't have, all because Mummy and Daddy said they could have whatever they wanted, she'd laid to waste any attraction or slight approval. Perhaps it was the bruises on his ribs, or his broken fingers that had still been healing at the time, but her words had sliced through him. Not that she'd cared for it, but in that moment, she'd destroyed every good opinion he had of her.

It hadn't been the only time she'd claimed he held his pureblood status over others. His rich family and well-known name being the _apparent_ reason why people liked him.

And for years, prongs had attempted to mend it. Idiot should have been focusing on his own _clearly_ damaged opinion of the red-head. Remus was a bit more gentle with his attempts, getting her to sit with him when Sirius was around and putting a sticking charm on Sirius seat. First time he'd stood up, none the less, ripping his shorts and exposing his harpies boxers to all of Gryffindor common room. He hadn't been all that embarrassed really, until the redhead in question started laughing.

Someone shoving his shoulder firmly, and the feeling of falling forwards, made Sirius snap his head upwards and his eyes widen. His head smacked into the wall behind him and he let out a low groan, his hand coming to nurse the bruise he no doubt would have in an hour.

" _Idiot_ ", he heard James mutter with a laugh. Opening up an eye confirmed that it was James, standing above him who'd woken him up.

"Tosser," Sirius retorted, holding a hand up. James grabbed onto his forearm and pulled him upwards till Sirius was an inch or two taller than him. Sirius patted his shoulder in thanks and looked towards the bed.

Remus was still passed out, and it was just himself and James in the room. Raising a brow, he looked questioningly towards the messy haired boy. By the looks of him, he'd been either asleep, or half-asleep as Sirius had. His hair was a mess, as per usual, and the creasing on the left side of his face suggested he'd fallen asleep on something other than a pillow. Dark rings around his glass covered eyes suggested that he, like Sirius, was suffering from a deep lack of sleep that went beyond the full-moon.

James nodded slightly outside of the curtained off section, and Sirius followed, exhausted but still intrigued. He noted the way James limped, quite badly, and how he favoured his left leg. Remus was going to be sore over that one.

"Unless you woke me up to tell share that you've finally slept with the bitchy redhead, i'm going right back to sle-"

"It's about Charlotte," James cut in, glaring slightly.

"You slept with Charlotte? Well James, i'm in favour of the blonde more than the red, but i think you're being a tad greedy mate, what will the rest of us lowly mortals have?" Sirius drawled, rolling his eyes as he leant against the wall.

Sirius could tell James was just about to lose it, whether it be the fatigue or the somber discussion which was seemingly important enough to wake him up."Shut it you prat, i'm actually trying to have a serious conv-"

"Okay, all right." Sirius said with a sigh, nodding his head. "Sorry, go on."

Prongs watched him a moment, likely trying to guarantee he'd keep his mouth shut for a moment. When all Sirius did was watch him silently he smiled in thanks.

"I was thinking…" _Here we go,_ Sirius held back from saying. Every bloody prank that went too far, or slightly wrong always began with those bloody words. James was brilliant, but sometimes his thinking did them more bad than good. "About last night, what Remus and you said about.." James cringed slightly. "Chatting up Charlotte."

"Figure of speech mate," Sirius said, brows lowering, hoping this wasn't going where he _thought_ it might be going. "We, or at least _i,_ don't expect you to 'pursue' her. Just, you know... get buddy buddy with her. You two were close before, just however you got there before... do it again."

"But i got there by _chance_ ," James said, worrying his lip. "If Alice hadn't suggested i speak to her about Lils, i wouldn't even know _who_ she was right now. If i hadn't of bumped into her in the library with the animagus book, she wouldn't have started to trust me. If i hadn't followed her to the bloody broom closet during Remus' party, we wouldn't be mates..."

Sirius tried not to let his imagination run havoc with that little tidbit of information. Since _when_ had they been in a bloody broom closet together! Godric, no one told him anything anymore. He ground his teeth, regretfully feeling rather hypocritical at being annoyed about the lack of information. Afterall, it wasn't like James knew about his unforunate snogging in her room.

Since when did they keep secrets from each other. James and Sirius had been been close enough, since their first year, to make birds concerned they were a little more than _just good mates_. There wasn't a whole lot he _didn't_ share with James. A good shag, a great meal… even a satisfying bathroom trip. He didn't hide things from James, and he knew James never hid things from him.

It had started when they'd begun hanging out with Charlotte. Why that would cause a divide between them was a complete mystery to Sirius. The bird seemed to slot herself into their little group quite comfortably. He supposed he'd only withheld things from James when it became so clear that he was less than comfortable with Sirius' interest in her.

"I don't really know what you're getting at honestly," he managed eventually with a sigh and weary shrug of his shoulders. Though he was glad James was revealing things to him now, it wasn't the best time or place for this. He was nodding off right there in the hallway, Remus was unconscious lying on a medical bed and Charlotte was godric knows where doing godric knows what, silently hating them from a distance. At the moment, it was the last thing on his mind.

"I'm saying you should be 'chatting her up', not me!" James hissed sarcastically, obviously not keen on the term if his air quotes had anything to say about it. He ran a hand through his hair, almost ripping his hair out when it got caught in a rather thick bit near the back and he had to yank his hand out.

Sirius shrugged his shoulders, still not understanding his friend. "You taking the piss? James, you hounded me for _possibly_ fancying her, now you want me to chat her up? Mixed messages my friend."

James put a hand to his forehead, nursing a headache Sirius guessed was brought on not by their discussion but by his lack of sleep. "No, i don't want you to bloody ' _chat her up'_ i want you to be her friend."

Sirius rolled his eyes, realising it was a repeat of their discussion the night prior. "I told you already, i've tried. Bar _confunding_ or _imperiusing_ her, she'll continue to ignore my every word. I've tried to be charming, flirtatious, polite and even rude, but she ignores me every time. What do you want me to do? I can't force the bloody bird to like me!"

And after his 'heroic' display that night, a few days ago, he wasn't even sure she could stand being in the same room as him. He'd still tried to approach her, but when she'd backed away this time… it had been different. She'd avert her eyes, and no longer glared at him. She didn't make any obvious attempts to avoid him anymore, she was just clearly uncomfortable in his presence.

Sirius preferred when she ignored him.

James finally began to understand that it wasn't for lack of trying that Sirius couldn't get through the Charlotte. About time too, he was a good 10 seconds away from a sock to the face.

"Listen, she obviously listened to you in the library because you managed to convince her you were trustworthy. If she hadn't, she likely wouldn't have told you she was interested in animagi in the first place."

James nodded to himself, as though agreeing with an internal discussion. It made Sirius smile for a moment. It had been a fair while since they'd been each other's conscious.

"As far as the broom closet goes mate…" Sirius had to pause for a second, shaking his head. As far as he remembered, which wasn't _that_ much being that he was a bit off his face, she and Lily were in a bit of a toss about something, and James had obviously followed her out. For the moment, he was going to assume nothing kinky went on in the broom closet.

"She was upset, and you comforted her with all your charm and gorgeous bloody eyes. She's upset right now. So, go do what you do best and save the bloody damsel."

James nodded again, frowning at the floor in thought. He opened his mouth to say something, just as a low groan sounding from within the curtained cubicle they were sleeping in earlier, made them both snap their heads in that direction, and rush towards the bed.

Sirius watched with a wince as Remus exerted himself to sit up. If Sirius and James looked bad, then Remus looked just about half dead in comparison.

"Mate, you look like shit," Sirius commented drily with a lazy smirk as he sat on the edge of the bed near his feet. James sat in the chair opposite and nodded his head in agreement, a smile on his lips.

His sandy brown hair was slicked back with sweat and dew from the forest. He hadn't charmed his face in awhile, so his usually smooth clean skin was littered with painful looking scars that were pink and red-rimmed, as though still healing. All wounds from the previous night had stayed within the region of his stomach and arms, as well as his shoulder where Sirius had had to tear into him quite viciously after he'd mauled James' leg.

He was pale white and his eyes seemed dull against the rims of red around them.

"Well i feel like it, so i guess it is only appropriate." Sirius snorted at the dry tone, noting it was said behind a groan. The poor boy was struggling to sit up. Leaning forward so his head was almost in his neck, he lifted Remus gently by the underarms until he sat up comfortably. It had been a painful move, if the groan was anything to say about it, but he'd thanked Sirius anyway. He looked at Sirius, then Prongs. A head to toe check that they knew all too well.

"You two ok-"

"Remus, if you finish that with _Okay_ , i will slap you. We are always fine, and we will always be fine," James had interjected strongly. Giving a smile when Remus sighed, collapsing backwards into his pillow in relief. "Put your head down and go back to sleep."

Remus' eyes narrowed as he looked at James, then Sirius and back to James again.

"I will if i see you studying for Defence"

"Tight ass," Sirius commented mutely. Not mutely enough for Remus, who glared his way. Sirius rolled his eyes, holding his hands up in defeat. "Alright alright." Pulling out his crossbody bag from underneath the bed, he grabbed his notes or… perhaps more correctly put, _Remus' notes_ , and set them up on his lap, "Happy?" Remus' smile was answer enough.

James had gone to do the same, trying to walk as evenly as possible, but Remus noted his limp the second James stood up.

"I thought you said you were okay!" Remus snapped, leaning forward and trying to grab onto James so he could work out what was wrong with him. Work out _what he'd done_.

To James' credit, he simply brushed Remus' hands away, grabbed his bag and moved back towards the chair, all without the limp Sirius knew was hiding beneath the tight wince on his back turned face.

Once he'd collapsed into the chair, and crossed his legs, favouring the uninjured one of course, he regarded Remus with an amused look.

"I am okay," He shrugged his shoulders and pulled out his notes that were identical to Sirius, as well as a bottle of ink, a quill and some parchment. Brushing his hair back and straightening his shoulders he settled into the chair a little more comfortably. "Bit tired, a _little_ bit sore. Nothing we aren't all feeling. And look, i've got my book open and i'm studying! Now go to sleep."

"Wow prongs, i love it when you use that voice. All authoritative and pushy, so sexy," Sirius commented lowly, using his best husky voice.

"Only for you Pads," he answered in an equally husky voice, waggling his brows around. Sirius grinned and for a moment, everything was back to normal.

The curtain to the right of Remus, where James was sitting swung open, and out popped Pete's head, his beady eyes cinched tight as he stared at them all. James jumped in his seat, surprised to find Pete was even in the hospital wing. They hadn't really known where he was for awhile, and just assumed he'd gone to the common room to get some shut eye. They wouldn't have blamed him for it. Was right uncomfy sleeping on the floor.

"Shh! I'm trying to hear what they are saying!" Pete hissed in a whiny voice. Figures. Lack of sleep only made Pete into more of a child than he already was.

"What _who_ are saying?" Remus asked, ever the peacekeeper. Sod could bloody well see Sirius was about to tell him where Pete could shove his shushing.

"Professors Dumbledore and Mcgonagall, as well as Pomfrey. Apparently a student is dying!" Pete hissed, eyes wide in an odd assortment of fear and excitement. It was his disturbing amount of hysteria, and Sirius had to roll away his annoyance. Like _now_ was the time for that shite.

"Who?" James asked aloud. Pete went to move back into the next curtained cubicle, but James caught his arm just as he was to leave, seeing Remus has something to add.

"Pete, stop listening in. If someone is really dying, they don't want some nosy sixth year listening in to private conversations," Remus said with a frown, watching as Pete slumped into the room and sat on the chair besides James.

"Yeah. Mate, you gotta show a bit of tact," Sirius added, nodding in agreement to Remus. He didn't know who could possibly be dying, but it wasn't any of their business. He was quite proud to say that the Marauders had a line they didn't cross, and that sort was definitely over the line.

"Rich coming from you," Pete snipped. Sulking into the room and flopping onto the floor, leaning against the beds backboard.

Sirius frowned, shoving his shoulder with his foot, _a little harder than necessary_. "Oi, shut it. Moony's trying to rest."

* * *

(~Remus Lupin~)

It had taken 3 hours, begging, pleading and outright lying to get James, Sirius and Pete out of the hospital wing. Though he appreciated his friends wanting to keep him company, they'd done enough and looked about ready to keel over.

They'd been with him the entire morning, and well into the afternoon when he'd finally decided they needed to leave. There was only so much talk about Quidditch he could take before he became mind numbingly bored.

"Remus, you look shocking." He looked up to find Lily standing halfway into the entrance of his section, ringing her hands and looking worried he would request she leave. After their previous conversation, he supposed had he of been the sort to hold a grudge, he might. Remus was rarely one to hold a grudge over anything. He was cautious, not resentful.

Besides, he'd forgiven her not long after their little row. Truthfully, she'd done little to him at all. He was more grieved over her transgressions against her sister which were so painful in their obviousness to her cold character. All it would have taken, was one word…

He couldn't quite reconcile that his Lily, long-time study buddy and close friend, was the same girl who'd known _for quite some time_ that something was clearly wrong with her sister, and didn't say anything about it. All for what? She'd spat some nonsense about worrying that it was all just _her_.

Remus thought that was Lily's way of justifying what she'd done. Rather, what she _hadn't_ done. After all, there was nothing you could do, if nothing was wrong.

It was late in the afternoon now. The setting sun chose a perfect time to glare in through the hospital wing's windows, outlining the redhead before him in an ethereal glow, alighting her hair in wisps of flames. Porcelain skin remained unburned through the flames, and two wide, doe like eyes, shades so green slytherin pales in comparison, watched him carefully. Remus thought she looked lovely.

"Thanks Lily. I suppose i'll pretend that was a compliment?" Remus asked with a smile, closing his book and sitting it down to his right. As he'd hoped, Lily took it as an invitation to enter into his curtained room, and sit on the chair beside his bed.

He watched as she bit her lip and looked him over, searching for any new injuries. He knew that most were inflicted on his shoulder, where Padfoot had mauled him _as he'd later found out_ , and his chest, where he'd mauled himself. To anyone else, he just looked exhausted if not for the scars on his face and bare arms.

Lily knew better however. Bright girl that she was, began researching his condition almost immediately after finding out he was plagued with lycanthropy. She had the general gist already, being that they'd studied it in third year, however she became somewhat of an expert.

She'd been with him enough moons now to know that he held his pain in well. He didn't lie, but he wasn't obvious in his suffering. Just like he rarely asked for help, but was the first to give it. She knew him rather well, if Remus thought about it.

"I wish it was." Lily smiled, a pained one that reached her eyes as a wince. He must really look shocking if it was paining Lily to look at him. He still remembered in October, the year before, when he'd gotten the largest of the scars on his face. A claw mark, running from the top of his hair line through his brow bone, missing his left eye, leaving a claw like maul across his lips. It must have looked shocking the first few days after, as Lily's eyes welled up whenever she saw him. "Was it bad?"

Even now, her eyes were glassy as she leant forward and took his hand. He'd always struggled with her supposed compassion towards him whenever the moon came around, never quite knowing if it was empathy or pity.

"No more than usual." Remus gave her a quick smile and let go of her hand, using it instead to push himself higher. When he was settled, and he saw Lily had jumped from the chair, he realised his groan must of been louder than he'd assumed it had been. He winced, and settled back into the bed. "What can i help you with Lily?"

"I'm sorry," She shot, a bare half-second after Remus had finished. Instead of going back to her chair, she sat on the bed. Nestled beside his hip, she grabbed his hand again, holding it between both of her own. "I was worse than hippogriff dung. I was petty and self-centered and an absolute prat. You didn't deserve what i said. You've always been my friend, Always. and i treated you like garbage."

Remus sighed, slinging his head back. He knew this conversation would happen, he'd just hoped to recover before so. He wasn't sure he would be able to explain things completely. Instead of the heated bout they had the last time they spoke, he wanted to have a proper conversation with her. She was brilliant, and if they put their minds to it, he was sure, with James, Sirius and Pete to boot, they could find a way of working out what was going on with Charlotte.

He _wanted_ to have this conversation, just not now. "Lily-"

"Forgive me?" She begged, pulling his hand to her chin to drop a kiss onto it. Remus sighed again, this time a small smile accompanying it.

"Nothing to forgive," Remus said simply. She grinned, peppering his hand with gentle kisses before placing it back on his stomach. He was sure his cheeks were rosy at that point, and was thankful Lily was distracted by jumping off the bed to grab her bag. For a reproachful moment, his eyes appreciated the back of her, just as much as he'd appreciated the front.

His eyes snapped shut when he realised what he was doing. Letting out a pained breath, he opened them back up, focusing instead on the window to the left of him.

There were too many reasons why it was wrong of him to appreciate Lily in any sense other than the brilliant friend that she was. The more he told himself that, the better.

"So, since you've been lounging around not doing much..." Lily mumbled loudly, not noticing Remus' shift in mood. She tucked her hair behind he ear and came back to sit behind him, a stack of books, parchment and writing implements in both hands. Giving him a knowing smile, she lifted the weight slightly. "i thought i'd bring all your homework."

Remus sighed, allowing a wide smile to grace his lips for the first time in what felt like months.

"Thank Godric. Thought i was going to have to listen to James and Sirius prattling on about the harpies again. Never thought i'd be so glad to see such lengthy amounts of parchment."

Lily laughed, the sound dancing in the small area as she pulled over the small table that once had his lunch on it. She set the books, parchment ink and quills down barely a second before Remus flipped open a book and pulled the string off the parchment to delve into Professor McGonagall's questions.

Though they were in exam time, they still held typical school lessons, though they were less strenuous and focused more on what they would be learning in their next school term.

Lily sat back on the bed, one arm supporting her head as she watched Remus take a look at his parchment, then read over the book. Remus gave her a rare smirk, and she laughed mirthlessly, looking for, just a moment, carefree. "You're welcome Remus."

They shared a glance for a moment, until Remus pulled away, smiling down at McGonagall's neat writing.

They sat in comfortable silence for another hour, Lily eventually moving back to the chair to pull out a text of her own to focus on. Remus found that she wasn't studying, or doing homework, she was actually reading a text on advanced healing.

The large tombe had him smiling to himself. Lily had told him at the start of the year that she was interested in knowing a little more about healing. She'd never been particularly good in DADA, but her potions skills were exemplary, and her charms work always made her professors proud.

She'd been thinking of taking on an apprenticeship, once they finished at Hogwarts, with the advanced healers in St Mungo's. She wasn't quite sure where she wanted to go after that, but she seemed genuinely interested in healing.

He wouldn't deny the proud approval he felt when he saw her study the text so thoroughly, it was like she was memorising it word for word. After the drama with Charlotte, it was good to see that she still cared.

It wasn't his place to try and mend whatever history was between Charlotte and Lily, but it was like he couldn't help himself. Just as he'd done, countless times with James and Sirius, or even Sirius and Pete when Pete had done something particularly stupid, he found himself trying to repair what was broken without really trying.

Perhaps it was because he didn't have any siblings, and when he saw the was Lily treated Charlotte, and Charlotte at times treated Lily, it cut into a hole he'd felt in his stomach for a long time.

Whatever was going on with Charlotte, he found himself empathising far more than he felt he should. At first, he'd tried to remove himself emotionally from the situation as much as possible. It was his suggestion, after all, to isolate her. The guilt had been so overwhelming when he realised she was as innocent as James claimed.

He knew what it was like to feel like a freak amongst a community of people he should have felt comfortable with. He knew what it was like to fear losing his friends, losing the good opinion of those he'd worked so hard to keep close to his side. Charlotte had gone through all that, not simply _feared_ it. Whatever he felt, was nothing short of apprehension compared to what Charlotte claimed to have gone through. And yet, he understood her so well. He even knew what it was like longing for something, or someone, that simply _wasn't theirs._

Remus could see her confused and frustrated glances, furthermore he _recognised_ what it meant. He saw and felt her anger when _he_ so stupidly couldn't see what she felt, when to her it seemed so embarrassingly obvious. How long would it take her to truly understand the depth of her feelings as more than a crush? He saw the way her tanned cheeks lit up in _his_ presence and how she tried valiantly to quell her feelings for the sake of another. How _well_ he knew that bloody feeling.

His eyes drifted up from his parchment, which he'd stopped writing on for quite some time now, to look at Lily. Her brows furrowed inwards, with a look of frustration that he still found himself smiling at. As though sensing his gaze, her eyes flickered up a moment, and she smiled, a questioning look maybe, by the curve of her lips, but a smile nonetheless.

"Lily?" Remus said slowly, regaining her attention when she looked back down.

"Remus." Her answer simple, cheeky somehow, as she gave him a conspicuously curious gaze once more.

"Lily, I think there is something wrong with Charlotte and i think we can work it out together." Lily sighed, her eyes shutting for a moment in resignation, as she sat back against the chair.

She seemed almost weary in her attempts at denying the truth. As though, this battle she had kept up for so long to deny anything was out of the ordinary had finally stolen every ounce of energy from her. "Forget about the past for now, what you may or may not have done. This is your sister, this is _Charlotte_."

"Remus, we aren't close anymore." Lily's frown then, tormented him for days. Her eyes were wide, and pained. He knew she was never really close to their other sister, Petunia. A nice enough girl when they were younger, she'd turned into a bit of a, for lack of a better word(and appreciation for Sirius' opinion of her), cow. Charlotte, however, Remus knew once upon a time she and Lily were close. They were _twins_ for Godric's sake.

She regretted it. Whatever _it_ was, that caused a drift. Whatever she had said, whatever argument went on that continued the drift. Lily wanted to be close to her sister, that much was obvious.

"Do you know how little she tells me? I haven't seen her for 2 nights Remus. Granted i spent the nights in Alice's dorm, but she could be drinking herself silly in her dorm or Godric, who knows, she could be off shagging Black! I don't know my twin any better than a know the first year Gryffindors i do prep potions with."

Remus grabbed her hand and pulled until she stood up and moved back onto the bed. Anger dissipated and she looked incredibly sad. Her shoulders drooped forward, and he recognised the mixture of despair, fear, worry and guilt that buried itself into her tightly shut eyes, into the creases on her forehead and the frown on her lips.

He rubbed soothing circles into her hand, just as he had when they were littler. It brought him back to a time when they'd sat huddled behind the greenhouse, holding hands as Lily blubbered out the story of a mean Slytherin who'd spat _mudblood_ at her in the hallway, right before pushing her over. She'd been inconsolable until he began rubbing those circles into her hands.

He remembered, only a year ago, as she'd walked away from Snape, her supposed friend. He'd just called her a _mudblood_ and she'd never been so brokenhearted. Remus didn't say much, not that whatever he said would help her. Though she had known Snape had gone down a darker path, she'd always held hope for her first best friend. So, he'd simply held her hand as she internally deliberated the end of her friendship with him. Alice came eventually, and all Remus could do was squeeze her hand and watch her walk away.

This time, however, he wanted to do more for her than just being a supportive hand to hold.

"Well, i know for a fact she isn't shagging Sirius, to his disappointment. So no worries there." Lily rolled her eyes, but smiled. Remus returned it gently, squeezing her hand. "I don't know if i can help your relationship, but i know we can help Charlotte. Help me, and who knows, we may land 2 birds with one stone."

Lily watched him carefully, then looked towards the window. He waited in silence, continuing to rub her hand. Eventually, Lily squeezed his hand, and gave him a hesitant smile.

"Okay. I'm listening."

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Well this was a whopper. I think because of the multiple change in POVS? I mean, daaaaaamn this took alot out of me hahah Why is it so long? I have no idea. I still write how i used to, meaning i type up the dialogue first then just fill in the bits as i imagine it would happen. Alot apparently happened this chapter!**

 **So, you will notice older chapters being updated. Yay!**

 **I have had someone PM me, letting me know that the fic summary is, in highly summarised words, damaging reader's view of the fic. Apparently, it doesn't give a good first impression, and it will either bring in readers that aren't looking for what this fic is about, or turn off readers that** _ **would**_ **like the fic. I haven't heard this before, but i do know a fair few people read the first chapter, and nothing else, so perhaps it's true (or perhaps i'm a crappy writer?!)**

 **So, i need to re-write the summary but i have no idea how i am going to do that! It was one of the hardest things when i first put up AAL. How to summarise everything that has happened in 385 words…**

 **Will require a fair bit of thinking…**

 **Anyway, hope you enjoyed this lil update :)**


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